With democratic and rule of law backsliding in EU Member States, the EU as “order” is put into question through an unfolding identity-, compliance-, implementation- and perception- crisis. How do EU institutions respond to such a crisis? By developing a theoretical framework based on integration theories and a conceptualization of crisis-responses, we argue that EU actors show major difficulties in managing the crisis which currently affects several of its Member States. The EU is arguably also breaking down in the defense of some of its key democratic values. And yet, overall and in the longer turn we do not foresee a
breaking down
. Rather, EU responses seem best described by
muddling through
. At the same time there is still room to believe that the European Union is able to
head forward
, particularly in view of supranational institutions, such as the Court of Justice.
With a mandate under the Lisbon Treaty, the European Union (EU) has been engaging with foreign powers like Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) nations on human rights issues. Despite the common and shared goals, the BRICS set-up is not institutionalised, which prompts the EU to engage with each country on a bilateral basis. Such collaborations have occurred in bilateral dialogues, multilateral fora, through developmental assistance, and negotiations in economic partnership agreements. The scope and content of the discussions and cooperation vary due to the difference in the political structures of the countries. While the EU and the BRICS may share some common goals politically and economically, pursuing shared objectives related to democracy and human rights promotion remains challenging. These countries may believe in human rights protection, but the understandings and the approaches vary drastically, as visible when issues of sovereignty and non-intervention are raised to resist comprehensive discussions. Although the BRICS are emerging as an interconnected group and have begun to cooperate more closely in multilateral fora, the EU may also have to consider dealing with it in its institutional capacity. It could be more challenging to fulfill the mandate of the Lisbon Treaty for the EU while dealing with this cohesive group that has different understandings on human rights protection within their own states.
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