Publication

This brief examines changes in the interpretation of Article 346 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which at one time enabled EU states to avoid the application of EU law to the defense sector. The author first examines how examples of case law of the European Court of Justice since 1999 demonstrate that Article 346 does not provide an automatic exclusion of defense from EU law. He then outlines the conditions that would enable the Article to apply to a case and how member states may attempt to use the Article in legal cases in the future.