Multilevel Regulation and the EU: The Interplay Between Global, European and National Normative Processes

Rules are no longer merely made by states, but increasingly by international organizations and other international bodies. At the same time these rules do impact the daily life of citizens and companies as it has become increasingly difficult to draw dividing lines between international, EU and domestic law. This book introduces the notion of ‘multilevel regulation’ as a way to study these normative processes and the interplay between different legal orders. It indicates that many rules in such areas as trade, financial cooperation, food safety, pharmaceuticals, security, terrorism, civil aviation, environmental protection or the internet find their origin in international cooperation. Apart from mapping multilevel regulation on the basis of a number of case studies, the book analyses its consequences in relation to forms of legal protection and legitimacy. In that respect it proposes an agenda for research to study how to cope with multilevel regulation.
This work offers valuable resources for researchers involved in studying the interplay between international, European and domestic law. For practitioners it offers background information on the ways in which many international rules come into being.

Andreas Follesdal is Professor and Director of Research at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights at the University of Oslo, Norway.

Ramses A. Wessel is Professor of the Law of the European Union and other International Organizations and Co-Director of the Centre for European Studies at the University of Twente, The Netherlands.

Jan Wouters is Professor of International Law and International Organizations and Director of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and the Institute for International Law at the University of Leuven, Belgium.