Madariaga - College of Europe Foundation

Policy Brief, (1 July, 2008)

MARIE VINCENT - Project Manager, Madariaga - College of Europe Foundation

JAN WOUTERS - Professor of International Law and International Organizations Director, Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and Institute for International Law, K.U.Leuven.

This policy brief is based on the discussions resulting from the debate that the Madariaga – College of Europe and the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies organised at the European Parliament on 1 July 2008. Professor Edward Luck, Special Advisor of the UN Secretary General and Senior Vice President and Director of Studies at the International Peace Institute, delivered the keynote speech. The discussion that followed involved a cross-institutional panel of EU representatives: MEP Ana Gomes, who kindly hosted the meeting, Morten Knudsen from the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU, Richard Kuehnel from the Cabinet of Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, as well as Muriel Domenach on behalf of the French Presidency of the EU.

The paper first provides a brief background of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and then explores its state of play at the UN level. The last part looks at the EU’s position on R2P and its preparedness to further integrate this concept in its policies and practices.