This volume offers a concise yet thorough overview of the principles of EU external relations law. By carefully examining the role of the Union on the global scene, it aims to provide a systematic overview of the relevant rules and competences, reflecting on the legal developments in their political and societal context. The book contains up-to-date analyses of inter alia the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the Common Security and Defence Policy and the Common Commercial Policy. Moreover, it devotes specific attention to the EU's external powers as regard the environment, fundamental rights and development cooperation. In addition, it includes a dedicated chapter exploring the relations with neighbouring countries, as well as one that elucidates the complex interplay between rules of domestic, European and international provenance. One of the work's key assets is how reflections on the law are interwoven with, and continuously supplemented by, insights from adjacent disciplines like international studies, political science, and public administration.

The third edition, like its predecessors, continues to have an undergraduate readership in mind. The inclusion of chapter overviews, clarifying boxes, and countless topical examples should prove extra enlightening for those audiences. The book managed to attract particular praise earlier for its lucid style and great accessibility. As before, its compact dimensions, transparent design and comprehensive approach should enable users to master the central features of this gripping field of law with ease. Newly appearing in the Springer Textbooks in Law series, it remains an invaluable resource for students and lecturers alike.

Henri de Waele is full professor (chair) of International and European Law at Radboud University Nijmegen (the Netherlands), currently also serves as part-time professor of EU External Relations Law at the University of Antwerp (Belgium), and is associated as a senior fellow with the Centre for European Integration Studies at the University of Bonn (Germany). He studied Dutch, International and European Law in Nijmegen and Leuven (Belgium), holds an LLM and a PhD from Radboud University Nijmegen, as well as the Diploma in European Union Law from the European University Institute in Florence (Italy). Professor de Waele's primary research interest lies within the domain of EU institutional law, and concerns in particular the inter-institutional dynamics, the Union's external relations and interaction with other international organisations, judicial appointments and administration of justice, the effect of European norms in the national legal order, and EU citizenship. His expertise also extends to the foundations, history, general principles and selected branches of public international law. Amongst his secondary interests are (comparative) constitutional law and legal theory. He supervises PhD theses in both the fields of public international and European law.