The Human Rights Policy of the European Union: Between Ambition and Ambivalence

The AIV believes that the EU’s human rights policy needs to be improved. The AIV advises the government to focus intently on pursuing human rights policy via the EU in cases where this is the most effective option. In the AIV’s opinion, however, the time is not yet ripe to conclude that acting via the EU is always preferable to acting bilaterally. The Netherlands should therefore continue to promote human rights as vigorously as possible though its own foreign policy.