Humanitarian assistance: The EU’s holistic approach to humanitarian emergencies

The present chapter intends to develop a legal analysis of the EU action in the humanitarian domain. In this respect, a general overview of the relevant legal regime is first provided, highlighting its incorporation into the constitutional framework of the EU legal order, emphasising its peculiarities, and stressing recent trends aimed at ensuring a more holistic EU approach to humanitarian emergencies (Section 2). Then, the analysis considers the external projection of the EU action, with a particular emphasis on the role played by the Union as a global normative actor in contributing to the improvement of international law applicable in the domain at stake (Section 3). Finally, a critical assessment of the current configuration of EU humanitarian assistance is provided, highlighting its perspectives and challenges and considering the broader trends characterising the European integration process at this stage in its history (Section 4).