Human rights in the Council of Europe and the European Union: Achievements, Trends and Challenges

Confusion about the differences between the Council of Europe and the European Union, in the human rights field and other arenas, is commonplace amongst the general public. It even affects some lawyers, jurists, social scientists and students in these disciplines. The rights literature is also dominated by separate studies largely concerning the legal systems of these two organisations. For these and other reasons, wider and more integrated accounts are now required. The primary objective of this book is to attempt to meet this need. It describes, explains, compares and contrasts relevant institutions, procedures, norms and policies. The authors also conclude that the central achievements are the successful institutionalization of the respective missions of each organisation in both political and legal spheres. In turn, this has contributed significantly to securing minimum standards across the continent. The central trends are the increasing expansion, complexity and interpenetration of transnational human rights activities in Europe. Finally, the central challenges concern how all this could, and should, be properly understood and coherently, legitimately, and effectively managed, particularly as a result of recent crises including the Brexit vote.