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While the EU is a staunch defender of human rights in both its internal and external policies, it lacks a comprehensive or coherent policy at either level. This discrepancy is even less sustainable in 1999 than it was just a few years ago. Monetary union, enlargement, a need to match growing powers with effective human rights scrutiny, and various other developments all necessitate a far more developed human rights policy. Existing institutional arrangements are especially unsatisfactory and the article puts forward a wide range of measures that should be explored in relation to the role of the Council, Commission, Parliament and Court, as well as Member States.