Report mapping legal and policy instruments of the EU for human rights and democracy support, FRAME Deliverable 12.1

Abstract

This report is devoted to the mapping of legal and policy instruments of the EU for human rights and democracy support. In particular, it highlights the EU´s human rights priorities in terms of themes and vulnerable groups in its external action based on a review of EU policy documents and literature. In order to do so the report first identifies the instruments that set up the frame of the human rights and democracy policy. The framework of the EU’s human rights and democracy policy is presided by the Strategic Framework on Human Rights and Democracy, which establishes the principles, objectives and priorities that must guide the EU’s action. Two general objectives, each with a different scope, can be identified in the Strategic Framework: the EU’s and its Member States’ commitment to promote the universality of human rights and the EU’s determination to promote human rights and democracy in its external action. In addition, the Strategic Framework highlights some areas of action which identify specific objectives and priority themes and groups. Although the Strategic Framework is on human rights and democracy, the emphasis throughout the document is on human rights, not on democracy. Democracy is ‘an aspiration’ that it is not defined. There are other relevant documents that set out the EU´s human rights and democracy policy. As well as general policy papers on mainstreaming human rights and promoting human rights and democracy in the EU external action, there are specific human rights guidelines on priority themes and vulnerable groups and human rights strategies towards particular third countries. In order to implement its human rights and democracy policy, the EU has developed a broad range of instruments. Some of them have been especially created in order to contribute to the specific objective of the promotion of human right and democracy worldwide; in particular, the EIDHR, the human rights clauses, the human rights focal points in EU Delegations, the EUSR for Human Rights, election support and the human rights dialogues and consultations. Moreover, the EU uses other traditional instruments of its CFSP to promote human rights and democracy in its relations with third countries. These instruments respond to the EU’s objective of mainstreaming human rights and democracy in all its policies and actions toward third countries. Among them, those that should be highlighted are the EU’s action in multilateral fora, bilateral political dialogues, démarches and declarations, , CFSP decisions, restrictive measures and, finally, thematic and geographic financial programmes. Regular assessment of the implementation of the EU’s human rights and democracy policy is one of the outcomes stated in the Action Plan. This evaluation of policy is mainly carried out through one specific instrument: the EU’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the world. In addition, as a consequence of the EU’s approach to put human rights at the core of its external action, human rights and democracy promotion constitute also an important part of other EU’s Annual Reports relating to other external policies, such as CFSP and Development.