Collateral legal damage? Invoking article 42(7) of the Treaty on the European Union and the fight against international terrorism

Abstract

 After the terrorist attacks in Paris on 13 November 2015, the French Government decided to invoke for the mutual assistance clause laid down in Article 42(7) of the Treaty on the European Union for the first time. Just one week later it would also obtain adoption by the Security Council of the contentious Resolution 2249(2015). On the basis of the existing relationship between both initiatives and having overcome the initial impact of this unexpected reaction, this article aims to deepen in the identification, analysis and evaluation of legal consequences both vis-à-vis the EU – and the modest set of commitments on which its Security and Defence policies are based –as well as regarding the tensions surrounding the legal framework of self-defence as a consequence of the new forms under which international terrorism operates.