Abstract

This article examines the European Union’s role in implementing the preventive dimension of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) through its Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). It provides a critical assessment of key CFSP tools for atrocity prevention, identifying their main strengths and structural limitations, and advancing recommendations to address existing gaps. This contribution further explores the existence and scope of due diligence obligations aimed at preventing serious violations of peremptory norms of general international law, clarifying whether such obligations apply to the European Union and the extent to which it contributes to shaping their content and fostering their effectiveness.

Keywords: Responsibility to Protect, international core crimes, European Union, Common Foreign and Security Policy, jus cogens, due diligence, duty to prevent genocide

How to Cite:

Zannarini, E., (2026) “Implementing the Responsibility to Prevent: The European Union and its Preventive Engagement in the Common Foreign and Security Policy”, Law & Criminology Journal 3(1), 190-212. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/lcj.99888