CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2015
| Author | Kemecsei, Gergely |
|---|---|
| Title | European Union as a human rights advocate: human rights clauses in agreements with third countries and a comparative application analysis |
| Summary | Human rights clauses constitute a crucial and integral element of the EU’s external policy goal to promote human rights in third countries. Although this concept was conceived well before the zenith of including such clauses in the EU’s concluded agreements or reaching their full legal potential through an evolutive process, it is doubtlessly the hallmark of the EU to extend this systematic approach to a considerable geographic coverage which currently encompasses more than 120 partner states. In this thesis I touch upon the concept that these clauses represent a different mindset towards the promotion of human rights by the mean of motivating for adherence by incentives instead of an imposed alteration of value by compelling a country to sign a human rights convention. I analyze in depth the possible legal justifications which enable the suspension of an agreement as a last resort, the framework which grants the EU a mandate to conclude agreements embedding such clauses and the procedural remit to resort to them. In addition to this, I clarify the EU’s relation to third countries and establish a linkage between the different categories of clauses, devoting due respect to the differences stemming from historical, political, diplomatic or evolutive circumstances. I argue that the low level of asymmetrical interdependence and high level of development can influence the negotiation procedure and lead to a compromise in the wording of the clause, whereas there is a divergent set of other factors which influences the content and complexity of the particular clause. I explore the possible sanctions in case of non-compliance and demonstrate why it was used so far almost exclusively vis-à-vis countries from the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States. I demonstrate the procedure and the consultation mechanism by describing a few cases in detail in which I reach the conclusion that having a developing country on the other side does not guarantee an effective usage of the clause. Finally I do not omit to mention flagrant human rights violations in countries outside the abovementioned region where I identify explanations for the non-initiation of serious sanctions or agreement suspension. |
| Supervisor | Granger, Marie-Pierre |
| Department | Legal Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2015/kemecsei_gergely.pdf |
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