‘Troubling gap’ between EU promises and actions on human rights, watchdog says

The watchdog’s latest annual report lists "repressive" migration policies, discrimination against marginalised communities and democratic backsliding by certain member states as some of the EU’s human rights shortcomings in 2023.

The bloc is also denounced for its "double standards" on foreign policy, as it endorses accountability for war crimes in Ukraine whilst shying away from similar efforts in Gaza. Such contradictions mar the EU’s “standing as a principled global actor,” the report says.

The highly-valued publication provides a barometer of respect for human rights across the world.

Human Rights Watch’s EU Advocacy Director Phillippe Dam pinned personal responsibility for the EU’s underperformance on human rights on Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“The EU is increasingly parking human rights to a lower level of engagement, or is, in fact, de-prioritising it,” Dam told Euronews.

“And of course, von der Leyen has a responsibility. Her contribution to the EU-Tunisia deal really puts human rights aside, but also in other international engagements, be it with the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, or the conflict in Israel and Gaza.”

“We really hope that in the months left for this Commission, there will be efforts to put human rights back at the centre again.”

A spokesperson on behalf of the European Commission told Euronews that they would give the report "due attention."

Respect for human rights is one of the EU’s founding values. But the report denounces the current EU executive for prioritising trade, economic and political ties at the expense of human rights, and for failing to exert sufficient diplomatic pressure on states in the Persian Gulf, China and India to tackle abuses.

“The rest of the world sees this discrepancy, and it makes the EU perceived not as a principal international actor,” Dam explained, “but it also makes the EU less effective and less impactful in the world because human rights violators see that reality and they feel that they can also blackmail the EU in return.”

The report lists other glaring shortcomings in the bloc’s foreign policy efforts, such as its failed attempts at mediating the long-standing dispute between