REVUE DE L’UNION EUROPEENNE ‘ NO 577 Avril 2014 Éditorial 197 Maurice Faure par Florence Chaltiel Soft law 200 La soft law en droit de l’Union européenne – III. — La soft law dans les relations extérieures de l’Union européenne __________________________________ par Brunessen Bertrand et Isabelle Bosse- Platière 201 La soft law dans la construction de la politique européenne en matière d’investissements internationaux _____________________________________________________________________________ par Ni colas Pigeon 209 La soft law : un instrument au service du développement de la politique de sécurité et de défense commune _________________________________________________________________________________ par El ise Daniel 217 L’instrument de soft law dans la relation Union européenne- Chine en matière de propriété intellectuelle ___________________________________________________________________________________ par Suju Kang 225 Colloque international des jeunes chercheurs : la soft law en droit de l’Union européenne – Rennes 24- 25 juin 2013 – Conclusions __________________________________________________________________________ par Claude Blumann Union européenne 233 Légitimité démocratique et intégration européenne par Altide Canton- Fourrat Droit social 243 Chronique de droit social européen ( juin 2010 – juin 2012) – Troisième partie par Ekaterini Sabatakakis Fonction publique de l’Union européenne 254 Chronique de jurisprudence en droit de la fonction publique de l’Union européenne – Première partie par Valérie Giacobbo- Peyronnel et Vincent Huc Digest SOFT LAW IN THE ELABORATION OF THE EUROPEAN POLICY IN TERMS OF INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENTS par Nicolas Pigeon p. 201 The purpose of this article is to show that the use of soft law is convenient and strategic for European politics players in terms of international investments. In the Union and in its foreign relations, such texts proliferate and are not insignificant. Firstly, soft law has a structuring function by allowing the synthesis of conflicting po-sitions and by seeking law adjustability. Secondly, its use also seems to have a strategic aspect : the biased interpretation of an uncertain primary law. SOFT LAW : AN INSTRUMENT AT THE SERVICE OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMMON SECURITY AND DEFENCE POLICY par Elise Daniel p. 209 Soft law instruments are increasingly used in European Union law, whereas they are not clearly identified. This article intends to contribute not only to the review of the use of such instruments in the framework of the common security and defence policy, but also to a more general thinking about the concept of soft law instrument. THE SOFT LAW INSTRUMENT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION – CHINA RELATIONSHIP IN THE AREA OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY par Suju Kang p. 217 The bilateral dialogue established by the EU- China consensus in the framework of the strategic partnership since 2003 is a priority and vital instrument for the processing of the issue of the intellectual property area. Exchanges, interaction and talks between the two parties have been contained in texts resulting from dialogue mee-tings, referred to as non contractual concerted acts. Such soft law acts, whose effect is limited to a political commitment, do not limit their author’s behaviour. Nonetheless, the review of the pre- nego-tiation function of the dialogue allows to show the pre- legal scope of the soft law instrument ; it has been used to prepare the laun-ching of negotiations with a view to a new EU- China agreement in the area of geographical indications. DEMOCRATIC LEGITIMACY AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION par Altide Canton- Fourrat p. 233 The level of citizen trust in the legitimacy of governments stresses the difference that exists between democracy such as it is practiced in modern states and the ideal model. That difference is even bigger when mentioning the situation of the European Union. The variable and varied practice of democracy prompts Karl Popper to say that « Democracy is the term for something that does not exist « . While it is deliberately excessive, that assertion is full of good sense. The changing form of the State has prompted many questions as to the practice of democracy ( local democracy, national and then Euro-pean democracy). Democracy generates that need for an authority higher than the power in place ; it was first how the essence of pu-blic affairs is seen, changes and transforms into a source of legiti-macy. Innovation in the search for a drive for the elaboration of a European democracy adjusted to the structure of the Union re-mains a challenge, both political and legal. SPECIAL EUROPEAN LAW CHRONICLE ( JUNE 2010 - JUNE 2012) THIRD SECTION par Ekaterini Sabatakakis p. 243 In its many rulings, the Court of Justice provided several clarifica-tions of some rules and/ or concepts. Thus it showed that it is not only the interpret of social laws, but also the custodian of the social rights of Union workers. CASE LAW CHRONICLE IN PUBLIC EUROPEAN UNION CIVIL SERVICE LAW FIRST SECTION p. 254 The European Union judge has developed an innovative view of civil service law, derived both from administrative law and from social and labour law. The growing contractualisation of civil ser-vice and the constraints that the economic crisis is exerting on the institutions of the Union show in the year 2013 case law in its search for a right balance between the rights of employees and the requi-rements of institutions as employers. par Vincent Huc, Valérie Giacobbo- Peyronnel
