초록 열기/닫기 버튼
Having achieved its current degree of integration, the European Union (EU) has come to acknowledge that it should be more concerned with the protection of human rights in Europe. However, the EU's activism in relation to European human-rights issues has also been seen as a threat by the Council of Europe, which has traditionally served as a setter and a monitor of European human-rights standards. There are two ways of looking at the tension and conflicting relationship between the EU and the Council of Europe with regard to the EU's activism on the European human-rights issues. One view is that EU and the Council of Europe are separate and distinct organizations in terms of functions and thus the EU is asked to deal with the problem of human rights in Europe with restraints, so as not to threaten and weaken the functions and authority of the Council of Europe. Another view, however, emphasizes that the EU is now in the evolutionary process towards federation, which means that the EU is by nature different from common regional intergovernmental organizations. According to this view, deeper cooperation and collaboration between EU member states with respect to human-rights issues on the basis of mutual trust within the framework of the EU, instead of simply referring to minimum standards by the Council of Europe, should be necessary and effective. This article is concerned with this question of the tension or conflicting relationship between the EU and the Council of Europe with respect to human-rights issues in Europe with a special focus on three issue areas: The EU's Fundamental Rights Agency’s influence on the human-rights monitoring bodies of the Council of Europe; diverse aspects of the EU Clauses inserted into the Council of Europe's human-rights conventions on the effective protection of individual human beings and the question of fundamental rights in the context of the establishment of the area of freedom, security and justice between the EU member states. This article argues that the seemingly conflicting relationship between the EU and the Council of Europe regarding human-rights issues in Europe may be understood in a more positive and constructive manner by consolidating human-rights standards within the EU, which should be over and above the minimum standards adopted by the Council of Europe. Although problematic aspects of the EU's active involvement in human-rights issues at the European level can be found in some instances, generalization of the conflicting relationship between the two organizations regarding European human-rights issues is inappropriate and unjustified. Rather, this article makes a point that the question of whether the EU's active involvement in European human-rights issues has threatened or weakened the functions and authority of the Council of Europe should be assessed with a case-by-case approach to concrete and substantive issues. Moreover, this article notes that the EU should make best use of the tension with the Council of Europe as an opportunity for the development of human-rights standards within the EU by taking more active legislative measures, which should be over and above the standards adopted by the Council of Europe. In this regard, the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the EU's possible joining the Council of Europe as 'a member' and accession to the European Convention on Human Rights could combine to form a turning point for the consolidation of human-rights standards in Europe.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
European Union, Council of Europe, Fundamental Rights Agency, EU Clause, Protection of Human Rights in Europe
