Human rights and the rule of law are regarded as cornerstones of the European Union, playing a key role in the internal order of the EU and with regard to accession.
Official publications promote this role internationally, and the legalistic approach of the EU has been contrasted with the projection of political and military power by the USA, Russia or China. But to what extent does this reflect reality when it comes to the protection of human rights on the global level?
Following on from the 2008 Kadi-decision by the European Court of Justice, which has been widely discussed as possibly creating a conflict between the UN and the EU, this book explores whether the EU’s human rights order has real and distinctive relevance on a global scale and whether it can be considered as a significant international human rights organisation.
The contributions to this volume are clustered around four themes: the EU human rights policies in international institutions; the influence of EU human rights law outside of Europe; whether the EU human rights order has set new substantive rules which are different from other international/regional standards; and the relationship between human rights and economic goals in the EU.
