Madariaga - College of Europe Foundation

13:30 - Tuesday, 1 July 2008

Whilst unanimously endorsed by UN world leaders at the 2005 World Summit, the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle has so far failed to mobilise political will. With recent debates focusing on the issue of legitimate military intervention, the preventive dimension of the concept has largely been overshadowed. In February 2008, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed Edward Luck as Special Adviser with a focus on R2P in order to develop conceptual clarity and consensus for the evolving norm.

On 1 July 2008, the Madariaga-College of Europe Foundation and the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies invited Edward Luck at the European Parliament - Brussels - to open a debate entitled "The Responsibilty to Protect: Where does the EU stand? " with an overview of the state of play of R2P in the international context.

The discussions then turned to the EU’s position and its potential role in promoting the R2P principle. The issue was explored by a cross-institutional panel of EU representatives involving MEP Ana Gomes, host of 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. The debate was moderated by Prof. Jan Wouters, Director of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies.

 Report