On Wednesday 25 March, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Commission formally proposed that issues relating to the EU's human rights policy in the world should no longer be subject to unanimity but to qualified majority voting.
The previous Commission had proposed in September 2018 the abandonment of unanimity on human rights issues in international fora (see EUROPE 12094/4).
In a joint proposal, the Commission and the High Representative invite the Council to recommend to the European Council to adopt a decision "identifying the Union's strategic interests and objectives, in accordance with Article 22(1) of the EU Treaty, through the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024", also presented on 25 March.
Clearly, if the proposal were approved, the European Council would unanimously adopt the Action Plan for Human Rights and Democracy as an EU policy of strategic interest, which would mean that the Council could decide by qualified majority on issues covered by the new Action Plan.
The EU Action Plan identifies five lines of action for the next five years : - protecting and empowering people; - building resilient, inclusive and democratic societies; - promoting a global system for human rights and democracy; - to take advantage of the opportunities and meet the challenges of new technologies; - achieve results through collaboration.
These lines of action should pursue four objectives. This includes strengthening the EU's leadership in the promotion and protection of human rights and democracy in the world and defining the EU's ambitions, identifying priorities for action and focusing on implementation. Maximising the Union's role on the world stage by expanding the human rights toolbox, its main instruments and policies and fostering a united and supportive EU by promoting more effective and coherent action are the other two ambitions.
The plan should also strengthen the coherence between internal and external policy areas. "The EU will step up its efforts to mainstream the protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in all areas of external action", the document says, adding that human rights will also be integrated into internal policies, including environment, migration and security.
See the documents related to the proposal for a qualified majority: https://bit.ly/3ampOze and https://bit.ly/2WGlqY0 and the EU Action Plan: https://bit.ly/2WKxfMK and https://bit.ly/3drP21a (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)