Division 6

Even if there is no explicit reference to external competence in the EC Treaty, it results from the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Communities that the provisions of the EC Treaty referred to above constitute legal bases not only for internal acts of the Community, but also for the conclusion of international agreements by the Community. The Community may conclude international agreements whenever the internal competence has already been used in order to adopt measures for implementing common policies, as listed above, or if international agreement is necessary to obtain one of the European Community's objectives^f1. The Community's external competence is exclusive to the extent to which an international agreement affects internal Community rules or alters their scope^f2. Where this is the case, it is not for the Member States but for the Community to enter into external undertakings with third States or International Organisations. An international agreement can fall entirely or only to some extent within exclusive Community competence.