DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR PROTECTION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: A RIGHT WITH PROSPECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT AND EVOLUTION?

Abstract

The European Union has accepted a figure called “Diplomatic and Consular Protection” in article 35 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and in articles 20.2.c) and 23 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), as well as in article 46 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The instruments use the denomination “diplomatic and consular protection”, although their analysis, interpretation and extension cannot depart
from the concepts of Public International Law: diplomatic protection, diplomatic assistance, consular protection and consular assistance.
This article analyzes this right both from European Community Law -as a European citizenship right supported by this link / legal status of the European Union-, as well as from Public International Law. It investigates its current normative, doctrinal and jurisprudential scope, and he wonders about its possible future development within the context of the supranational regional integration process such as the European Union.