Cartel of Silence: How the European Union Undermines the Work of its Human Rights Defenders in the OSCE

In the face of a rapid decline of rule of law standards in a number of EU Member States, this article examines whether the Helsinki process of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which was instrumental in strengthening the political commitments to human rights and their defenders during the Cold War and thereafter, can still deliver for defenders in the EU today. It discusses issues related to the concern of the OSCE's fading relevance in its human dimension and the role EU Member States (EUMS) play in its decline. In reviewing the EU's diplomatic practice within the OSCE, this article suggests that in its quest for unity, the EU has grown into a cartel of silence, effectively weakening the OSCE's foundational logic of peer review as it is unwilling to deal with problems in a forum that was created for this very purpose. The article then recommends a number of ways in which OSCE's institutions and political bodies could develop their working methods to take advantage of particularly EU civil society expertise while also being open to their calls for OSCE action.