The European Union and Human Rights: Law and Policy

With the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, the profile of human rights issues has greatly risen in relation to EU policies, whether internal or external. The EU has thereby made the commitment to ensure that all its actions are compliant with human rights, and seek to promote them. Yet, the EU's commitment has come under scrutiny, not only for its ground-breaking character, but also because recent events have put it to the test.

This volume has been designed to take stock of these developments, to comprehensively discuss the conceptualization and operationalization of the EU's commitment to human rights throughout the EU's relationships, policies, actions and legislative activity, and to critically assess its outcome. This title is divided into four parts: 'Framework' presents the issues related to human rights promotion by the EU; 'Actors' delves into the relationships that play a part, at home or abroad, in regards to human rights policies and judgements; 'Policies' takes a case-study approach and systematically reviews a range of EU internal and external policies to assess their human rights impact and implementation; and finally, 'Strategies' provides an integrated assessment of the design and implementation of the EU's commitment to human rights.

This book brings together essays from around the world, each discussing different aspects of EU commitment, and evaluating the extent to which the EU is delivering on it. Each chapter provides an introduction to the state of affairs, discusses opportunities and challenges, and provides recommendations. As such, it is an essential reference book on human rights policies throughout the EU and their impact throughout the world.

Jan Wouters is Full Professor of International Law and International Organizations, Jean Monnet Chair ad personam EU and Global Governance, and founding Director of the Institute for International Law and of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, an interdisciplinary research centre with the status of both a Jean Monnet and KU Leuven Centre of Excellence, at KU Leuven. He is also President of KU Leuven's Council for International Policy. He is a Visiting Professor at Sciences Po (Paris), Luiss University (Rome) and the College of Europe (Bruges), and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University. A member of the Brussels Bar and of Belgium's Royal Academy, he has published widely on international law, EU law and global governance. He was Coordinator of the FRAME project (2013-2017) and is Coordinator of the RECONNECT project (2018-2022). and a Member of the Belgian Royal Academy.

Manfred Nowak is Secretary General of the Global Campus of Human Rights, based in Venice, and Professor for International Human Rights at the University of Vienna. He served as UN Special Rapporteur on Torture from 2004 to 2010 and served as Vice-Chairperson of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency between 2012 and 2017. In October 2016, he was appointed as independent expert leading the UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty. He is author of over 600 books and articles in the field of human rights.

Anna-Luise Chané is a Research Fellow at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and at the Institute for International Law (KU Leuven), and Project Manager of the large-scale Horizon 2020 Project RECONNECT ("Reconciling Europe with its Citizens through Democracy and Rule of Law"). Her research focuses on the relationship between multilateral organizations, in particular the United Nations and the EU, on the EU and human rights, and on human dignity in the case law of international courts and tribunals. Anna-Luise studied law at the University of Cologne and the University of Leuven and passed her First and Second Juridical State Examination with distinction. She holds a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School, where she was an ERP Scholar of the German Ministry of Economy and Technology and the German National Academic Foundation.

Dr Nicolas Hachez was the manager of the FRAME project (www.fp7-frame.eu) from 2013 to 2017. Nicolas is currently Associate Fellow at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and was previously Lecturer in EU and international law at KU Leuven (2017-2018), Senior Researcher at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies (2008-2018), and Associate Attorney in the Brussels office of an international law firm (2004-2008). Nicolas' research lies at the intersection between international economic law and international human rights law and is featured in numerous international books and journals.