The Human Rights Policies of the EU: Political Nature, Existing Incoherencies and Institutional Bifurcation

Abstract

The history of human rights in the context of the European Union (EU) is complex and riddled with contradictions. This was convincingly demonstrated by leading experts in the area who wrote copiously about the existence of elements of institutional bifurcation in the organisation’s policies in the area. Although the EU is an important global actor in the field of human rights and had a positive impact on a number of human rights issues, a number of incoherencies and inconsistencies in its policies continue to have a detrimental impact on its political actions on the world stage. By examining the traditional explanations for these existing deficiencies in the political and institutional system of the organisation through a document analysis, this article sketches their problematic overall impact and argues, concurring to the above-mentioned experts, that these incoherencies resulted in a bifurcated human rights regime produced by the problematic elements of the EU’s own political identity. It also considers the impact of the Union’s enlargement on its human rights policies and the potential challenges this phenomenon poses in political and social terms.