The external projection of the european identity: Common Commercial Policy and conditionality in the matter of Human Rights

  • Maria Julià Barceló Open University of Catalonia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18543/ced-02-2019pp287-308
Keywords: European External Edentity, common commercial policy, human rights and democracy clause, generalised system of preferences, conditionality

Abstract

One of the distinctive aspects of the current EU —beyond its conception as an economic organization— is the protection and promotion of human rights in its external action. In application of the mandate established in the TEU, in its relations with the rest of the world, the Union contributes to the protection of human rights, as well as the respect and development of international law through the execution of common policies. The Strategic Framework on Human Rights and Democracy establishes the principles that provide for the integration of human rights in all policies of the Union. The common commercial policy is one of the axes of this action, in particular through two instruments: the clause on human rights and democracy —incorporated in trade agreements— and the Generalised system of preferences —granted to developing countries—. The basis of these instruments is conditionality, majoritarian positive, aimed at gaining the confidence of third countries and incorporating them into trade to improve their economies. Even so, these instruments suffer from certain technical-legal and political problems, which may hinder the transparent and non-arbitrary action of the Union with respect to the protection of human rights.

Received: 02 July 2018
Accepted: 05 September 2018
Published online: 27 February 2019

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Author Biography

Maria Julià Barceló, Open University of Catalonia
PhD in Information and Communication Society (specialty Public international law and European Union). Degree in Law and Master in European Studies from the University Institute of European Studies of the UAB. She is currently a professor of public international and EU law at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and Director of the Degree in Management and Public Administration (inter-university: UOC, UB). Its main lines of research are the EU peacekeeping operations and the Common Security and Defense Policy, and the EU’s external relations and the promotion of human rights. She obtained the accreditation of reading professor (AQU) 2015 and she has awared a six-year investigation (AQU) 2017. She is the author of Peace Missions of the European Union, Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, 2015, 590 p., and, among other works, she has published the following articles: «The time factor in the process of planning, creation and deployment of Peace missions of the European Union «, REDI, Vol. 67, 2015, Madrid, pp. 123-155; «The Legal Statute of European Union Peacekeeping Missions and International Liability for the Damages Caused by Their Action,» RGDE, no. 38, 2016, pp. 108-148.
Published
2019-02-27
How to Cite
Julià Barceló, Maria. 2019. “The External Projection of the European Identity: Common Commercial Policy and Conditionality in the Matter of Human Rights”. Deusto Journal of European Studies, no. 02 (February), 287-308. https://doi.org/10.18543/ced-02-2019pp287-308.
Issue
No. 02 (2019): SPECIAL ISSUE. European identity: roots and scope
Section
Monographic Articles. Scope of European identity. PART 3: «European identity: international projection»

Last update: 26/10/2026

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