(Brussels) Today, the Council of Europe will be publishing the “EU Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World in 2015”. The publication is available online, in English, French and Spanish at http://www.consilium.europa.eu/. “The Report tells about the measures and policies implemented by the EU in 2015 to achieve the goal of promoting universal respect for fundamental rights and freedom. It shows the progress made in the EU’s human rights and democracy policies in connection with issues that have come to the fore in 2015”. Such progress “includes the EU’s approach to conflict and crisis situations, trade and development partnerships, as well as the way the EU addressed challenges in the area of human rights and democracy, such as the fight against discrimination, death penalty, torture and other forms of abuse, the promotion of democracy, free elections and freedom of religion or belief, as well as support to human rights activists”.