Neutrality and EU membership : are they compatible?

Abstract

As the title suggests, the general objective of the thesis is to examine the compatibility between the status of neutrality and membership in the European Union. As a first step in this inquiry, the thesis briefly analyses the concept of neutrality as an institution of international law. In examining the compatibility of EU membership with neutrality, particular attention is devoted to EU Member States' position on the subject. Thus, a brief analysis is made of the neutrality practised by those members of the EU which purport to be neutral and of the different circumstances in which neutral Member States neutrality was born, has existed and continues to exist. The thesis considers to what extent neutral Member States' neutrality has challenged their efforts to join the Union and what are the implications of their EU/EEC membership on their neutrality. The discussion then passes on to define and examine the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU. This study tests the potential situations of conflict which may occur when the legal regime of neutrality meets with the treaty regime of the EU, and the extent to which such potential conflicts can be considered as such in today's reality. The thesis takes account of recent developments in the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy and the possible involvement of NATO in the EU's CFSP. Subsequently, the Maltese constitutional provisions regarding neutrality are set under the spotlight. Particular attention is devoted to the interpretation given to the Maltese constitutional provisions on neutrality by the Maltese Government along the years. The thesis poses the question whether Malta's neutrality presents an obstacle to Malta's participation in the CFSP, and therefore to Malta's membership in the EU. The conclusion arrived at is that from a legal point of view Malta's neutrality is not an obstacle to Malta's participation in the CFSP, and hence Maltese neutrality and EU membership are compatible.