The question of the Union's legal status has arisen primarily in connection with its capacity to conclude treaties or accede to agreements or conventions, since the Union, which comprises three separate Communities, each with legal personality (European Community, ECSC and Euratom) and two areas of intergovernmental cooperation, does not have what is known in international law as "treaty-making powers", that is, the international right to conclude agreements with third countries.
The Treaty of Amsterdam 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 Union from concluding agreements and asserting its position on the international scene.
The Luxembourg compromise, reached in January 1966, brought to an end the so-called "empty chair" crisis, France having refused to take its seat in the Council since July 1965. The compromise was an acknowledgement of the disagreement existing between those who, when a major national interest was at stake, wanted the members of the Council to do their best within a reasonable space of time to find solutions which all sides could adopt without encroaching on their mutual interests, and France, which was in favour of keeping discussions going until unanimous agreement was reached. Subsequently other Member States were to side with the French point of view.
The compromise has not prevented the Council from taking decisions in accordance with the EC Treaty, which provides in many cases for voting by qualified majority. Nor has it hindered the members of the Council from making further efforts to bring points of view closer together before the Council takes a decision.