Working group on human rights COHOM
The COHOM Human Rights Working Group was founded in 1987 by the Council of the European Union . She is responsible for human rights issues in European external relations. COHOM is made up of human rights experts from the member states and the European Commission and is headed by Engelbert Theuermann, COHOM's permanent chairman. At the regular meetings of the working group, topics on various aspects of European human rights policy in the international arena and urgent, questionable human rights situations are on the agenda. In addition, COHOM advocates the inclusion of human rights issues on the agenda of meetings between EU representatives and third countries.
Against this background, the foreign policy instrument of the human rights dialogue was introduced. The COHOM group is responsible for discussing and evaluating the human rights situation in the country concerned and for determining the specific goals and, on this basis, takes the decision to initiate a human rights dialogue, which is finally decided in the Council for Foreign Affairs .