The European Union and the responsibility to protect

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has committed itself to the promotion and the implementation of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) in political statements, most recently in the EU Global Strategy. When taking a closer look at the activities of the EU in the context of humanitarian crises that can be brought within the R2P framework, the strength and effectiveness of the EU’s supportmight be questioned. This article examines the EU’s interest in the R2P by addressing thefactors that inspired the EU’s openness towards the concept and by examining whether the EU’s commitment to the R2P falls within its general ambitions to contribute to international security or whether the EU is placing human suffering at the core of its considerations. In addition, this article questions to what extent the EU is capable of pursuing its own interest in the R2P and to what extent the EU is held back in implementing its commitment to the R2P by differing EU Member State approaches. It will be shown that the EU is strongly committed to fulfilling its collective responsibilities in partnership with the United Nations and that the focus of the EU’s activities has been put on atrocity prevention.