The European Union is one of the world's most consequential actors in human rights — through its sanctions regimes, rule-of-law mechanisms, asylum frameworks, and funding instruments. PHRD engages EU institutions to ensure defenders' voices reach where decisions are made.
Why Europe matters
The European Union offers unique tools for protecting human rights defenders that no other international body can match: targeted sanctions, rule-of-law conditionality in trade and funding agreements, asylum and protection frameworks, and a parliament with a strong human rights mandate.
Yet these tools are only as effective as the civil society organisations that push institutions to use them. PHRD's EU engagement is built on the conviction that policy change requires sustained, expert, and credible civil society presence in Brussels.
We do not merely monitor — we actively participate in the policy process, bringing evidence-based cases and systemic recommendations to the institutions best placed to act on them.
Policy priorities
Our advocacy at the EU level is focused on five interconnected priorities, each addressing a structural gap in how Europe protects human rights defenders.
Advocate for broader and more consistent use of the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime against perpetrators of transnational repression — including digital surveillance firms and enablers.
Push for EU asylum guidelines that explicitly recognise human rights work as grounds for protection — and that account for the specific evidentiary challenges defenders face.
Ensure that EU association agreements, trade deals, and funding instruments include robust, enforceable civil society space provisions — with independent monitoring mechanisms.
Advocate for an EU-wide framework to identify, document, and respond to cases of transnational repression occurring on EU soil — including diplomatic expulsion of state agents involved in harassment.
Support the creation of a dedicated EU emergency mechanism for at-risk defenders — providing fast-track visas, emergency funding, and coordinated protection across member states.
Contribute to debates on EU institutional reform, advocating for deeper integration of human rights standards and democratic conditionality as the EU expands and evolves.
Where we engage
PHRD engages across the full range of EU institutional structures, matching our advocacy strategy to the mandate and decision-making power of each body.
Accountability
PHRD is committed to full transparency in its EU advocacy activities. As an organisation actively engaging EU institutions on behalf of human rights defenders, we operate in accordance with the highest standards of civil society accountability.
We are in the process of registering with the EU Transparency Register — the joint Parliament-Commission register that ensures civil society organisations engaging EU institutions publicly disclose their objectives, funding, and activities.
This registration reflects our commitment to open, accountable advocacy — and ensures that our engagement with EU institutions is conducted on a clear and legitimate basis.
For questions about our EU advocacy activities or transparency commitments, contact info@phrd.eu
Work with us
Are you an MEP, EU official, researcher, or partner organisation? We welcome collaboration, information sharing, and joint advocacy on issues affecting human rights defenders.