It takes three to tango : the EU “orchestrating” National Human Rights Institutions to promote human rights in third countries

Abstract

The European Union has hitherto grown into a reputable actor in the global human rights governance. The ground-breaking adoption of the EU Strategic Framework on Human Rights and Democracy trumpeted the EU’s pledge to universally and indivisibly promote and protect human rights worldwide. A powerful EU external human rights policy repertoire now targets multiple actors ranging from states, international and regional organisations to civil society. Other internationally recognised and recently, quickly proliferated actors i.e. National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are, however, targeted in a rather sporadic manner. Their independence, locally based expertise, knowledge, experience endorsed by the periodic peer-to-peer review and recognised status within UN human rights machinery, shall certainly position them under the EU external human rights policy’s spotlight. The research, therefore, advances the model of indirect governance- the orchestration as a template for the EU and non-EU NHRIs’ engagement following the new Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2015-2019 propos. The thesis presupposes that a consistent and systematic inclusion of NHRIs into the EU external human rights policy could make EU’s external actions in third countries more contextualised, locally-sensitive and therefore more effective, and partially silence the ongoing criticism of the EU’s external human rights policy actions.