🇪🇺 Responsibility to Protect at 20: What the EU Must Do to Uphold Human Security
As the UN marks 20 years of the Responsibility to Protect, its latest report urges the EU to close the gap between ideals and action on atrocity prevention.
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The UN’s 2025 report on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) marks two decades since its adoption, highlighting its relevance and importance while also acknowledging its failures amid the rise of global atrocities.
Despite all ideas and debates, the practical implementation of R2P is still seen as weak while millions of civilians are facing unprecedented violence and new threats like AI warfare. The report urges the establishment of stronger national and regional institutions and actions, especially in the EU, to bridge the gap between principle and action.
In April 2025, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, released a new report marking the 20th anniversary of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine. The R2P is still seen as an important framework intended to ensure that states, regional organisations, and the international community in general act to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.
Historically, the EU-member states, such as France and Germany, have been among the main promoters of R2P based on historical experiences with crimes against humanity during the 1990s Yugoslav wars.
However, despite seeing decades of development in ideas and consensus regarding the value and importance of R2P, the report shows that there remains a dangerously large gap between ideas and practice. Conflicts, such as those in Sudan, Israel/Palestine, Ukraine, and elsewhere, have featured systematic attacks on civilians.
Yet the international response has often been selective, delayed, or absent, most notably because of the frequent disagreements and conflicts that we see within the Security Council, and which typically manifest themselves through the use of vetoes and geopolitical blocking. Two actors frequently employing this are the USA and Russia.
Among the report’s starkest warnings is that the world is now experiencing the highest number of armed conflicts since 1945. The proportion of civilian deaths is rising dramatically, particularly among women and children. Emerging threats, such as AI-powered weapons, cyber warfare, and disinformation, are compounding traditional risks, complicating accountability and prevention efforts.
For European institutions, the report presents new opportunities for engaging in an increasingly important topic, and smart engagement could lead to concrete actions and tangible differences on the ground. The report acknowledges that the EU is one of the few regional entities that have developed frameworks for atrocity prevention. Aside from the EU’s own R2P and atrocity prevention toolkit, they maintain a large presence in the Group of Friends of R2P.
Throughout the report, the European Union is actively encouraged to lead by example by further integrating R2P principles, supporting regional atrocity prevention frameworks and engaging more consistently in diplomatic engagement.
The report also calls upon the EU to be a vocal proponent of veto restraint at the UN Security Council in situations involving mass atrocities, and to support the development of a legally binding instrument on crimes against humanity..
Another important proposal is to use the EU’s global diplomatic influence and financial tools to support early warning mechanisms, civil society actors, and transitional justice initiatives in high-risk regions.
If the EU wants to shape a global order based on respect for human rights and international law, the report states that the union must not only champion the ideals of R2P but also implement the measures in a practical manner.
Institutionalising actions can achieve this through legal commitments, budgeted policies, and the creation of new rapid response institutions, reminiscent of the 2000s framework with battle groups.
Without stronger enforcement and better institutions, the EU will not be able to have a larger impact on global security and the general need for peaceful and sustainable development. Not only this, but the pretence of geopolitical relevance or power, or any adherence to the core values of the European Union, will be rightfully lost.
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