From a legal perspective integration between the European Community1 and third states in Europe may be seen as depending on questions of the adaptability of law originating within the framework of the EC Treaty to the needs of such integration. These are questions 'that . . . hardly can be solved any longer on the basis of traditional distinctions of international, supranational and constitutional law'.2 For example, they have often been approached by the European Court of Justice on the basis of a constitutional-type definition of the 'external relations' powers of the Community. However, as a recent judgment3 suggests, consistent application of any such definition in the face of the demands made on Community law by growing international interdependence may be problematic.4
In the present book these questions are approached on the basis of an examination of the dynamics of integration law -- trade liberalization, harmonization of law and policy and institutional involvement in these processes. For the purposes of the examination, trade is treated as denoting economic activity generally rather than being limited to exchange of goods. For the same purposes, an analytical distinction is made between the terms of the relevant legal provisions and the legal requirements entailed by such provisions. While the former denote the formal meaning of the provisions concerned, the latter denote their operational meaning. It is the latter which determine the effective role of the law in integration.
In particular, it is trade liberalization requirements, as exemplified in the famous ' Cassis de Dijon' ruling of the European Court of Justice,5 which lie at the heart of the distinctive contribution made by the EC Treaty to integration between Member States. Hence, the embodiment of such requirements in agreements between the Community and third states may be critical as to____________________