ABSTRACT
With the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Union (EU) has placed human rights and democracy at the heart of its external action. Accordingly, the EU has adopted a wide range of instruments, policy statements, guidelines and programmes to support human rights and democracy as an integral dimension of its foreign policy. With regard to the conceptual discussion, the first issue is if there is a Union human rights and democratization policy and/or policies or not. There are inherent methodological difficulties associated with the measurement of the effectiveness and impact of human rights and democratization policies and programmes. Critical analysis and impartial observation are also very important for the quality and utility of an evaluation of impact, and for the ability to learn from past experiences. Critical analysis is an adequate means to allow the evaluations to identify unintended impacts. The evaluations are conducted mainly by consultants that are independent 'in theory, but dependent on ongoing donor contracts in practice'.
