The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that the EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights is a promising way to improve the legitimacy of the supranational regime, provided that accession is organised in a well-considered and effective manner. My work tries to find, at least partial, resolution to the problem of the erosion of the EU authority, and is based on the underlying presumption that human rights substantially contribute to the successful functioning of the European polity. Understanding of the human rights environment in the EU is therefore crucial to find remedies to the lack of credibility in its exercise of power. For this reason the EU Human Rights Policy, in its internal realm, in particular the normative-judicial, monitoring, enforcement, and promotion components of the Policy, are examined in great detail. The identified flaws and insufficiencies, regarding both the design and implementation of the Policy in question, lend weight to the view that only a serious, comprehensive, and feasible plan for the reform of the Policy on human rights can provide an answer to the legitimacy problem at the supranational level of governance. But how is this objective best achieved? In this context, the proposal for the EU accession to the ECHR should be understood as a plausible means to rectify the shortcomings of the EU Human Rights Policy, and thus improve its image of the Union as a credible and powerful actor in European affairs. The proposal put forward in this work outlines principles which should govern the human rights reform of the EU and how they should be translated into practical terms. My research is therefore an invitation to a discussion about the role of the European Union, its orientation towards human rights, and its aspirations for the future.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:560429 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Musielak, Aleksandra |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/51644/ |
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