Micro-states of Europe and their Legal Relations with the European Union
Professor Graham Butler, Full Professor of Law, Linnaeus University, Sweden.
European Monographs.
Kluwer Law International, Alphen aan den Rijn, 2026.
ISBN (Print): 9789403515397 (978-9-4035-1539-7). ISBN (Electronic): 9789403515496 (978-94-035-1549-6), 9789403515595 (978-94-035-1559-5).
About:
Micro-states of Europe and their Legal Relations with the European Union is the first comprehensive legal study analysing the EU’s legal relations with four European micro-states - Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican City State - and scrutinises these legal relationships through the lenses of EU constitutional law, the EU internal market, EU institutional law, and EU external relations law, revealing an evolving system of specific sector-by-sector integration, held together by a patchwork of both international agreements, including monetary agreements. Despite their size, the European micro-states that are not part of the European Union maintain intricate, sometimes surprising legal relations with the EU and its Member States.
In a thematic, detailed analysis of these legal relations, with clear explanations of the scope, limits, and legal effects of various international agreements, the book examines such aspects as the following:
- customs provisions for the movement of goods and provisions concerning the EU customs union and the EU customs territory;
- non-fiscal barriers and regulatory aspects concerning the movement of goods;
- alignment with the EU’s Common Commercial Policy and the challenges micro-states face in exercising independent trade powers;
- legal provisions governing the movement of persons and workers;
- the very limited internal market for services, establishment, and capital;
- cooperation regarding the Schengen Area and external border management;
- the domestic taxation systems of the micro-states;
- adoption of the single currency (euro) through monetary agreements and its accompanying obligations and dynamic homogeneity with EU banking and financial law;
- joint committees and bodies governing EU-micro-state legal relations; and
- dispute settlement mechanisms, including consultation procedures, arbitration, and specific jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
The book also provides a rich historical context - demonstrating how the micro-states’ constitutional, geopolitical, social, and economic evolution has shaped their present-day legal relations with the EU - as well as a forward-looking assessment of potential avenues for deeper legal integration into the wider European legal space.
Table of Contents:
About the Author
List of Abbreviations
List of Tables
About the Book
Preface
The EU and Europe’s Micro-states
Goods and Fiscal Measures: Customs Duties
Goods and Fiscal Measures: Internal Taxation
Goods and Non-fiscal Measures
Goods and International Trade
Persons and Workers
Services, Establishment, Capital, and Payments
Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice
Taxation
Monetary Matters
Institutional Design
Dispute Settlement
Integration: Today and Tomorrow
Bibliography
Table of Cases
Literature
Table of Legal Texts
Table of Documents
Index
Author:
Graham Butler, Full Professor of Law, Linnaeus University, Sweden.
Published in May 2026.
Order the hardback version from the publisher here.
Citation:
Butler, G 2026, Micro-states of Europe and their Legal Relations with the European Union, European Monographs, Kluwer Law International: Alphen aan den Rijn.
