Foreign affairs committee approves the Parliament’s 2015 annual report on human rights and democracy in the world

The European Parliament's foreign affairs committee approved on 14 November 2016 their report on the state of human rights in the world in 2015. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) argued that the European Union should do more to protect independent journalists, bloggers and human rights defenders.

The committee also pointed out that the 'universality of human rights [was] seriously being challenged in many parts of the world' and said the EU 'should ensure coherence between its internal and external policies with regard to respect for human rights'.

This report still needed formal endorsement from the European Parliament's plenary session. It was the response to a similar report prepared earlier in 2016 by the Council of the European Union - its thematic sections were adopted in June 2016 and the section relating to countries and regional issues was adopted in September 2016.