Standing Up for the Voiceless?

Exploring the EU’s Capacity for Rights Protection

Denis Duez, Cecilia Rizcallah

• Publisher: Presses universitaires Saint-Louis Bruxelles
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9782802805403
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Public Affairs & Administration
• Index: Law

In an era marked by a crisis of liberal values—notably within Europe—and mounting challenges to fundamental rights, Standing Up for the Voiceless? explores the European Union's evolving role in fostering political inclusion. At its core, the volume seeks to engage with a pressing question: does the EU truly amplify the voices of the marginalized—or, more pointedly, the voiceless? Emerging from the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence "Un-Muting Europe," this collection brings together fresh perspectives from early-career scholars across disciplines and borders. Through a diverse set of case studies—ranging from environmental justice and migration to democratic backsliding and digital rights—it critically examines how EU institutions interact with those historically silenced, including stateless individuals, minority groups, future generations, and even non-human entities. Adopting a sharp interdisciplinary lens, the book moves beyond institutional rhetoric to question whether the EU's discourse of participation and protection translates into tangible outcomes. Does the European Union function as a genuine platform for empowerment due to its unique institutional architecture—or does it, paradoxically, contribute to the very silencing it seeks to prevent? Timely and thought-provoking, this volume is essential reading for anyone interested in the legitimacy of European governance, the politics of voice and silence, and the future of rights protection in the EU.

Table of contents

• Introductory pages
• Table of contents
• Standing up for the voiceless? Exploring the EU’s capacity for rights protection. An introduction
• Defining the green to make environmental concerns heard in the EU? The legal consequences of the (unexpected) uses of the taxonomy
• Unmuting the environment in EU competition law – Broadening the notion of “fair share to consumers” when assessing sustainable cooperation initiatives
• Which voices are heard in European wildlife policy? The necessity to listen to the many voices of living beings affected by conservation project
• Calling for coherence: Analysing the protection of environmental defenders in the European Green Deal
• Citizenship against democracy? Consequences of un-muting Hungarians beyond the borders on the EU’s rule of law crisis
• Article 10(3) TEU: Unlocking untapped potential to safeguard muted citizens’democratic rights
• From passivity to empowerment of the European patient in the light of new digital challenges
• Silencing falsehoods: Enhancing the EU’s unmuting power trough tackling gendered disinformation
• From silence to empowerment: Rethinking the EU’s legal response to hate speech
• The identification of obligations under EU law: tools that can be used by relocated persons to voice their interests?
• The refugee resettlement selection process: The new European framework as a gamechanger in giving voice to refugees