Re: Call for Adoption of New EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy and for Decision to Implement It by Qualified Majority Voting

Dear High Representative / Vice-President Kallas,

The Human Rights and Democracy Network calls upon your leadership to ensure the adoption of an ambitious new EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy, along with a Council decision to implement it by qualified majority voting instead of unanimity.

A similar proposal i , pursuant to article 22 of the Treaty of the European Union (TEU), was formulated in 2020 by the then High Representative and the Commission, but was regrettably not adopted by the Council. The proposal identified the promotion and protection of human rights and democracy worldwide as a strategic interest of the EU. That assertion couldn’t be more dramatically true today.

Amid global democratic backsliding, more and more people are living under authoritarian rule, as independent institutions, journalists, lawyers and civil society are increasingly censored, threatened and attacked for their essential role as checks and balances and democracy watchdogs. Ethnic, religious, gender and other minorities are increasingly oppressed, stigmatized, displaced, denied justice and other rights, as ruling, corrupt elites prey on divisive policies and hate speech to build consensus.

International humanitarian law (IHL) is being ignored by some international actors, including in Europe, who are unwilling to adequately and consistently react to atrocity crimes in Ukraine, across the Middle East, in Sudan, Eastern Congo, the Sahel, Myanmar and elsewhere. Targeting civilians, aid workers, journalists and critical civilian infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals, bridges, power plants, all protected by IHL, has become the announced modus operandi of some warring parties, including close EU allies. The United States have adopted crippling sanctions on the prosecutor and several judges of the International Criminal Court, reputable NGOs, and a European UN expert, targeting those who expose crimes instead of those who commit them.

The EU and its member states collectively remain the world’s biggest humanitarian donors and are leading actors in UN human rights fora. Yet agreeing on conclusions, statements, or strategic work plans ahead of UN Human Rights Council sessions has become increasingly difficult. All too often, EU foreign policy has been hostage to one or very few EU member states and exposed to risks of external manipulation and interference, leading to inefficiency, slow action and visible double standards.

For the EU, promoting and protecting “democracy, the rule of law, the universality and indivisibility of human rights and fundamental freedoms, respect for human dignity, the principles of equality and solidarity, and respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law” is not only a political choice and a strategic interest, but also a treaty obligation, enshrined in art. 21 TEU.

The Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy is a tool to comply with that obligation, yet its implementation has been deficient and inconsistent. That will hardly change without a collective realization that the unanimity rule is structurally and politically unsustainable, and ultimately harms both the EU’s credibility and its capacity to act swiftly and impactfully on human rights and IHL violations across the globe.

Madam High Representative, we call upon you to meet the moment and ensure that the EU is not only equipped with the right tools, but also capable of deploying them even when rights-hostile governments may rise to power in some individual member states. We encourage you to propose and use your leadership to secure the adoption of a decision to implement the new Action Plan by qualified majority, and we stand ready to support those efforts and discuss these issues with you any time.

Yours sincerely,

The Human Rights and Democracy Network (HRDN)

1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52020JC0006