The question of the legal status of the European Union (EU) arises primarily in connection with its capacity to conclude treaties or accede to agreements or conventions. Each of the EU’s three separate Communities – the European Community, the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) – has a legal personality, while the two areas of intergovernmental cooperation do not have “a treaty-making power’’ that is, the international right to conclude agreements with third countries. Discussions on the EU’s legal status are therefore part of the debate on whether or not the EU should be given the tools to take more effective and coherent action in external affairs. The Treaty of Amsterdam, which entered into force in 1999, contains no new provisions on the subject, as the Member States failed to reach agreement at the Intergovernmental Conference. Some observers argue that the problem is non-existent and there is nothing to prevent the EU from concluding agreements and asserting its position on the international scene. See: Intergovernmental Conference (IGC); Treaties