ABSTRACT
The promotion of democracy and human rights is very high on the EU-UN agenda,1 reflecting the widespread belief among European citizens that the EU should promote human rights and democracy worldwide.2 Since the end of the Cold War, EU members have been active in putting rights issues on the UN’s agenda. Acting as a bloc, the EU has introduced over 200 resolutions on specific rights situations in UN forums since 1991. EU members have also been instrumental to promoting elements of a normative revolution at the UN in the 1990s, including the approval of the International Criminal Court and the Responsibility to Protect. But Europe is not the only power which aims to promote global norms through the UN – and, contrary to what is generally believed, European preferences might clash with those of other active blocs, such as the Organization of the Islamic Conference. For instance, in the summer of 2007, the EU had to go as far as threatening its withdrawal from the nascent Human Rights Council (HRC) in order to maintain the Council’s prerogative to address country-specific situations.
