Substantial improvements have been made in the past few years to elaborating and implementing policies on human rights and democracy, leading to a much more focused and results-oriented approach. Indeed, in May 2001 the European Commission adopted the Communication on the European Union's role in promoting human rights and democratisation in third countries, subsequently strongly endorsed by the Council.
De fait, en mai 2001, la Commission européenne a adopté la communication sur le rôle de l'Union européenne dans la promotion des droits de l'homme et de la démocratisation dans les pays tiers, que le Conseil a ensuite largement approuvée.