Factors which enable or hinder the protection of human rights Eva Maria Lassen (editor), Monika Mayrhofer, Peter Vedel Kessing, Hans-Otto Sano, Daniel García San José, Rikke Frank Jørgensen 10.7404/FRAME.REPS.24 August 2014 .1 Fostering Human Rights among European Policies Large-Scale FP7 Collaborative Project GA No. 320000 1 May 2013-30 April 2017 Factors which enable or hinder the protection of human rights Work Package No. 2 – Deliverable No. 1 Due date 31 July 2014 Submission date 4 August 2014 Dissemination level PU Lead Beneficiary The Danish Institute for Human Rights Authors Eva Maria Lassen (editor), Monika Mayrhofer, Peter Vedel Kessing, Hans- Otto Sano, Daniel García San José, Rikke Frank Jørgensen http://www.fp7-frame.eu FRAME Deliverable No. 2.1 Executive Summary In assessing the factors that influence the protection and promotion of human rights in the European Union (EU), this report elucidates those factors that cut across the catalogue of human rights. This report seeks to examine contemporary human rights challenges in this context by mapping the historical, political, legal, economic, social, cultural, religious, ethnical and technological factors that both facilitate and hamper human rights in the EU. This report is part of Work Package 2 ‘Challenges and Factors’ of the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) project Fostering Human Rights among European Policies (FRAME). This first cluster of FRAME constitutes the foundations of a sound knowledge base for the assessment of EU human rights policies, encompassing the evolving factors, concepts, institutions and instruments that underlie human rights protection and promotion. The objective of the report is to analyse these crucial factors while taking into account challenges brought about by globalisation, with a focus on access to basic rights. The report does this through the provision of a qualitative mapping addressing the major topics related to each factor. The report is divided into 10 chapters and provides a chapter on each of the above cross-cutting factors, including an overview of the factor drawn from a literature review, an assessment of current knowledge of the factor and its impact on human rights in the EU, and challenges and gaps requiring further study. The report canvasses the major landmarks in EU history, with a view both to its external and internal policies (Chapter II, Historical), before addressing the inherently political nature of human rights themselves and the importance of States, sovereignty, ideologies, power, citizenship and democracy to their implementation (Chapter III, Political). Turning to legal factors, the report considers the coherence of obligations within the EU; whether the EU is bound by human rights obligations when acting externally; the relationship of human rights obligations and other international law norms; and finally shared human rights responsibility between the EU and Member States (Chapter IV, Legal). Taking post-crisis Europe as its departure point, the report analyses the economic dimensions of human rights in the EU, including the significance of economic decline, the internal market, poverty, employment, foreign policy, and development and trade (Chapter V, Economic). Turning to social factors, the report addresses the importance of the principle of non-discrimination in EU policy and institutions, before specifically considering the aspects of gender, sexual orientation, disability and age (Chapter VI, Social). The report then zooms in on cultural and religious factors. Taking a dualistic approach, this chapter focuses on those cultural and religious factors which may hinder or facilitate EU human rights policies as well as topical human rights issues which have a substantial impact on the space provided for culture and religion in a human rights context (Chapter VII, Cultural and Religious). Closely related to cultural and religious factors, the report proceeds to ethnical factors, addressing in particular ethnic minorities and their enjoyment of basic rights (Chapter VIII, Ethnical). The report goes on to consider the importance of technological factors in relation to human rights policies in the EU. This chapter analyses non-discriminatory access to the internet; protecting internet freedoms; ii FRAME Deliverable No. 2.1 freedom of expression and self-regulation; privacy, surveillance, and cyber security; and internet governance (Chapter IX, Technological). Finally, the report concludes with a summary of the chapters, key insights from each factor, and recommendations for further study and analysis. The EU today stands at a crossroads with regard to human rights. Taking into account, historical, political, legal, economic social, cultural, religious, ethnical and technological factors that enable or hinder human rights protection, this report sets out the cross-cutting issues that may inform the Union’s future direction. iii FRAME Deliverable No. 2.1 List of abbreviations ACTA Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement AR5 The Assessment Report on Climate Change 2014: Impact, Adaptation and Vulnerability BRIC Brazil, Russia, India and China CEO Chief Executive Officer CERD Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination CERT Computer Emergency Response Teams CFREU Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union CJEU Court of Justice of European Union CoE Council of Europe COHOM Human Rights Working Group of the Council of Europe COHRE Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, European Committee of Social Rights CRPD Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities CSOs Civil Society Organizations EC European Community EEC European Economic Community ECHR European Convention on Human Rights ECJ European Court of Justice ECRI European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance ECtHR European Court of Human Rights EDRi European Digital Rights EEAS European External Action Service EEC European Economic Community EFSF European Financial Stability Facility EIDHR European Instrument of Democracy and Human Rights EPAP European Platform Against Poverty iv FRAME Deliverable No. 2.1 ESM European Stability Mechanism EU European Union EURODIG European Governance Forum FRA European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights HRC UN Human Rights Committee IANA Internet Assigned Numbers Authority ICANN International Corporation for Assigning Names and Numbers ICCPR International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights ICJ International Court of Justice ICT Information and Communication Technology IGF Internet Governance Forum IHRL International Human Rights Law ILC International Law Commission IMF International Monetary Fund IPCC The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel of Experts on Climate Change IPR Intellectual Property Rights ISP Internet Service Provider LAs Local Authorities LGTB(IQ) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, (Intersex, Questioning) LIBE The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs MDG Millennium Development Goals OHCHR United Nations Office of the High Commission for Human Rights OIC Organisation of Islamic Cooperation OJ Official Journal of European Union OMC Open Method of Coordination v FRAME Deliverable No. 2.1 OMT Outright Monetary Transactions PI Privacy International PRISM Electronic surveillance launched by the US National Security Agency (NSA) TCN Third-country national TEEC Treaty establishing the European Economic Community TEU Treaty on European Union TFEU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union TFEU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union TNCs Transnational Companies TSCG Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union TTIP Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization WG II The Working Group No 2 of the IPCC WSIS UN World Summit on the Information Society WTO World Trade Organization WW2 World War2 vi FRAME Deliverable No. 2.1 Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................2 List of abbreviations ...........................................................................................................................4 I. Introduction ...............................................................................................................................1 A. Mapping key cultural, economic, ethnical, historical, legal, political, religious, social and technological factors ................................................................................................................................. 1 B. Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 1 C. Contents of the report ...................................................................................................................... 2 II. Historical factors ........................................................................................................................5 A. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 5 B. Structure and methodology .............................................................................................................. 5 C. Discovering human rights: landmarks in the history of the EU ........................................................ 6 D. Conclusions and