The Entitlement of the European Union to Exercise Diplomatic Protection. An International Customary Law Perspective

Recent international practice of the European Union features a certain attention to the need to protect European citizens whose interests have been affected by a breach of international law by a third State. Strikingly, this practice seems to find a more solid basis in international law than in EU law. This Article explores the actions performed by the European Union through the lens of customary international law on diplomatic protection. It aims at ascertaining whether these ac-tions prompted a development of international law which entails that, in force of the European citizenship, the Union is entitled to protect its citizens.