Human rights are enshrined as a priority in the constitutional framework of the European Union (EU), guiding both its internal and external action. This has led to the development of the concept of the EU as a global (normative) actor in the field of human rights. Within this context, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) emerges as a key domain through which the EU could assert itself as such an actor, given the normative mechanisms it offers for the protection human rights worldwide. However, the constitutional framework governing the CFSP reveals a gap between the EU's aspiration to effectively protect human rights globally and the external sovereignty of its Member States. In the CFSP domain, Member States have largely retained their external sovereignty, which is reflected in the distinct position of the CFSP compared to other areas of the EU's external action. This special position of the CFSP is particularly evident in the preservation of its distinctly intergovernmental structure and the unanimity rule in decision-making within the European Council and the Council, the limited constitutional competence of the EU's supranational institutions, bodies, and agencies, and the sui generis competence shared by the EU and its Member States in this field. The challenge of effectively protecting human rights within the CFSP is also reflected to some extent in practice, as illustrated by the analysis of examples such as the actions under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, the EU's joint statements, and voting on human rights resolutions in the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council.
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