Concepts and Language of Human Rights in the EU
This chapter evaluates the language and concepts surrounding human rights in the EU. It begins by investigating the dichotomous language of ‘human’ and ‘fundamental’ rights. Even a brief look at the EU Treaties makes immediately clear that both ‘human’ and ‘fundamental’ rights are mentioned in various parts of the text, most often as part of references to, on the one hand, the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, on the other. What is less obvious from reading the Treaties is whether there is in fact a difference between the two terms or whether they are synonymous. The chapter then highlights the human rights narratives the EU tells about itself. It also looks at the close relationship of human rights with the associated concepts of the rule of law and democracy, both generally and in the EU context.