The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) forms part of the integrated legal order of the European Union but remains in many ways special. What differentiates the CFSP from other areas of EU law and policy is that its nature remains distinctly intergovernmental. One of its special features is that in principle, the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in this field is excluded. After the Lisbon Treaty introduced a limited possibility of the CJEU to exercise judicial control over CFSP, the caselaw has been progressively extending the scope of the Court's jurisdiction and adopted an integrationist approach towards CFSP. These developments have improved the level of the protection of fundamental rights in the European Union, however the gaps in judicial review remain. While the EU’s external action is becoming ever more complex, its immunity from judicial review is becoming questionable from the perspective of the rule of law. When addressing these gaps, different mechanisms for ensuring the accountability of CFSP have been considered. Until the evolving political circumstances result in constitutional amendments allowing a full judicial review of the CFSP, the CJEU will have to further specify and justify the exact limits of its jurisdiction using fundamental legal principles in this politically sensitive field.
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