An ‘Ever Closer Union’ in Need of a Human Rights Policy: The European Union and Human Rights

Abstract The twentieth century’s most important proclamation of human rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948.1 It provided not only the inspiration but also the basis for the drafting of the European Convention on Human Rights, which was adopted less than two years later. Between them, the two instruments enabled the work of building a European community to proceed without a separate human rights foundation.