This article demonstrates that Arts. 21 and 3 (5) of the Treaty on European
Union (TEU) as well as Arts. 205, 207 (1), 208 (1), 209 (2) of the Treaty on
the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), legally oblige the European
Union (EU) to promote the rule of law in its foreign trade and development
policy. Furthermore, it is shown that, in the context of such promotion, the EU
applies not a rudimentary but a sophisticated concept of the rule of law – quite
similar to the concept of the rule of law that has developed within the Union.
To fulfill the legal obligation to promote the rule of law abroad, the EU employs,
as a key instrument, the legal mechanism of conditionality, not only through
autonomous instruments but also in its contractual international relationships
(carrot-and-stick policy). The EU’s foreign policy in the trade and development
nexus, in particular when it comes to the promotion of the rule of law, can,
therefore, be considered a process, to a large extent, determined and organized
the of law.