The EU and human rights in a post-western world

If the years after 1989 were the heyday of liberal internationalism, the global system based on rule of law, human rights and democracy is now on the defensive. ECFR’s experts are exploring how the EU should respond to this changed environment and whether it can still play an effective role in promoting international human rights standards. Can the EU forge a targeted new strategy to avoid the damaging effects of lecturing to a world that is no longer listening, without opening itself up to the accusation of relativism in the way it promotes its values?

Against this background, ECFR has launched a project to assess the EU’s role in promoting human rights in a post-Western world. This webpage brings together project documents, research based reports, articles and podcasts on the topic from the view of ECFR experts.

The advisory group: ECFR experts Anthony Dworkin and Susi Dennison have set up an ‘advisory group’ to exchange views and share insights on Europe’s role in promoting human rights, and to advise on the overall shape and agenda of the project. Participants have been drawn from EU institutions, member states governments, the ECFR Council and other NGOs. An initial meeting of the advisory group was held in March 2010. Click here for the meeting’s report.

The policy brief: On 22 September 2010, ECFR published a policy brief by Anthony and Susi entitled ‘Towards an EU human rights strategy for a post-Western world’. The brief argued that the EU now needs a post-Western strategy to counter the collapse in its soft power caused by the rise of authoritarian capitalism and the resistance the world has against being lectured by Europe about values. The EU needs to focus on achievable goals in human rights with more sensitivity to local needs and conditions - for instance Russian entrepreneurs who want a stronger rule of law, and Chinese campaigners against the death penalty.

The brief will form the basis of discussions with analysts, practitioners, civil society and policy makers in the first part of 2011, and will also frame ECFR’s research programme in this area.

Regional case studies: To follow up on the strategy outlined in the policy brief, ECFR has been conducting regional research to test its applicability in key regions and relationships.  In light of developments in North Africa and the Middle East, this has been our main area of focus.  We held a workshop in Barcelona in September 2010 to look at the possibility for political reform in the region, and a round-table in Paris in February 2011 to look at the impact of the democratic uprisings.  We have also conducted research on the ground in North Africa that has resulted in two policy briefs analyzing the role of the EU in supporting the transitions in Tunisia (policy brief available here) and Egypt (available here).  A policy brief on Morocco will be published shortly.

ECFR has also conducted research on the place of human rights in the EU’s relationship with China.  We held a workshop on this subject in Brussels on 20 April 2011 and a report is available here.

ECFR continues to track the EU's performance on human rights issues in the UN system. This work started in 2008 with the ECFR report A Global Force for Human Rights? An Audit of European Power at the UN, which was co-authored by ECFR Senior Policy Fellow Richard Gowan and current Member of the European Parliament Franziska Brantner. The authors have since published ECFR policy briefs reviewing the situation in 2009 and 2010. The 2011 review will be published on September 19^th 2011. A detailed explanation of the research methodology for all publications in this series can be found here.

Project documents

• Members of the ECFR Democracy and Human Rights Advisory Committee
• Report from the first meeting of the ECFR democracy and human rights advisory committee, Brussels, 12 March 2010
• Report from Paris round table 'North Africa: how should Europe respond?', 1 February 2011

Project workshop: European support for democracy and human rights in North Africa

• Workshop programme
• Workshop report
• Input paper: Human Rights and the European Neighbourhood Policy
• Input paper: Gloves Off, Hands on. Democracy in the Mediterranean faces tough times 
• Aboubakr Jamai on EU, North Africa, and prospects for change

Click here for audio podcasts with ECFR experts talking about Europe and the promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

The latest:

• Richard Gowan on how Europe is failing to win on human rights at the United Nations. Click here for audio
• Anthony Dworkin and Susi Dennison on Europe's human rights challenge. Click here for audio

ECFR's human rights work in the news: New York Times 14th October 2010

Click here for a full list of op-ed length ECFR articles on the subject.

The latest: Where does Liu Xiaobo's Nobel leave Europe? by Susi Dennison - Should Europe stick to its human rights principles or should it compromise on its values in pursuit of the world's most important rising power?