Human Rights as a Horizontal Issue in EU External Policy

The European Union (EU) plays a key role in today’s international community. Yet, in terms of specific areas, aims and tools, EU external policy is still characterized to a significant degree by fragmentation. Considering that human rights can be viewed as an aim that every specific external action should ultimately serve, human rights could play an increasing role in granting coherence to this broad policy as well as to the nexus between internal and external actions. The need to investigate how human rights horizontally inform EU external policy is therefore stronger than ever. By addressing different sectors, policies and issues, the authors offer a multi-layered analysis of the relationship between human rights and the EU exernal policy.