The President of the European Court of Human Rights, Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, said, on Monday 10 February, that he was optimistic that the EU would soon join the European Convention on Human Rights.
“I am optimistic, because I understand that there is a revival on this issue”, he told the European Parliament Human Rights Subcommittee.
2019 marked the relaunch of the accession procedure and, according to Mr Sicilianos, further discussions will be held on 24 March. While the Council of Europe agreed to this accession as early as 2004 and it is mentioned in the Lisbon Treaty, the EU Court of Justice expressed reservations in December 2015.
“We must be careful, we must satisfy the observations of the Luxembourg Court, but we must not overload the boat (sic) on the specificity of the Union, as this could create tensions when it comes to ratification by non-EU countries”, Mr Sicilianos explained. According to him, it is therefore necessary to “manoeuvre with caution and dexterity”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)