Moral policy entrepreneurship: the role of NGOs in the EU’s external human rights policy towards China

Although it is acknowledged that NGOs play an important role in the EU’s policymaking, their role in external action is less studied due to the often closed-off character of foreign policymaking. This study helps to fill this gap by analysing the role of NGOs in the EU’s external human rights policy towards China regarding the Xinjiang crisis. It is based on a content analysis of EU and NGO documents, as well as interviews with EU and NGO representatives. We find that NGOs act not just as policy entrepreneurs, but as moral policy entrepreneurs: they combine expertise with moral arguments about the EU’s responsibility as a human rights leader to push the Xinjiang crisis higher on the EU’s agenda and guide its response.