Joyce de Coninck

Can the EU be held legally responsible for its contributions to human rights harms in its Integrated Border Management policy? Or do systemic legal design flaws in the EU's human rights responsibility regime give rise to a significant responsibility gap? This book delves into these pressing questions, offering a transversal analysis of applicable legal frameworks under international and EU law. Divided into three parts, the book first analyses the international and EU human rights responsibility frameworks, revealing both 'normative incongruency' as well as 'liability incongruency'. Part two applies these frameworks to specific illustrations within the four tiers of the EU's Integrated Border Management, exposing the critical points where responsibility falters. Building on these findings and drawing from shared responsibility and relationality theories, part three briefly introduces 'Relational Human Rights Responsibility' as an alternative method to ascertaining human rights responsibility of the EU specifically, and international organisations more generally.

Can the EU be held legally responsible for its contributions to human rights harms in its Integrated Border Management policy? Or do systemic legal design flaws in the EU's human rights responsibility regime give rise to a significant responsibility gap? This book delves into these pressing questions, offering a transversal analysis of applicable legal frameworks under international and EU law. Divided into three parts, the book first analyses the international and EU human rights responsibility frameworks, revealing both ‘normative incongruency’ as well as ‘liability incongruency’. Part two applies these frameworks to specific illustrations within the four tiers of the EU’s Integrated Border Management, exposing the critical points where responsibility falters. Building on these findings and drawing from shared responsibility and relationality theories, part three briefly introduces 'Relational Human Rights Responsibility' as an alternative method to ascertaining human rights responsibility of the EU specifically, and international organisations more generally.

Both in Europe and around the world, 2017 has been another difficult year for the protection of human rights. Examples of the increased pressure on the European human rights system are apparent: the attack on the independence of the judiciary in Poland, which was responded to by the first time initiation of the rule of law procedure by the European Commission; the increasing human rights issues arising from European migration policy; Russia's suspension of its financial contribution to the Council of Europe and Turkey's lowering of its contribution; and the difficulties in appointing key human rights positions in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Split into its customary four parts and complemented by book reviews of recent publications on human rights in Europe, the tenth volume of the European Yearbook on Human Rights brings together renowned scholars to analyse some of the most pressing and topical human rights issues being faced in Europe today.