It is time for the EU to ratify the Istanbul Convention. This is the message conveyed by a draft interim report presented on Tuesday 29 November by the European Parliament’s Committees on Civil Liberties (LIBE) and Gender Equality (FEMM).
“It’s an absolute shame that, to this day, not all Member States have ratified the Istanbul Convention and that the EU itself has not acceded it yet”, lamented co-rapporteur Łukasz Kohut (S&D, Polish). Indeed, while all have signed it, Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have not ratified it. Some, such as Poland, are threatening to withdraw.
On the EU side, while the EU signed the Convention in 2017, ratification remains blocked in the EU Council. “I would like to especially underline that there are absolutely no legal obstacles for the EU Council to proceed to the ratification of the convention with a qualified majority”, he continued. Indeed, in the face of the blockage, the European Parliament had asked the Court of Justice of the EU in 2021 to issue an opinion (see EUROPE 12806/20). “The opinion was a green light for the EU Council to adopt the Convention without unanimity. Therefore we are presenting this report to complete the process”, concluded co-rapporteur Arba Kokalari (EPP, Swedish).
Finally, for MEPs, their interim report is also a way to “move forward” on the proposed directive to combat domestic violence and violence against women (see EUROPE 12906/14). With limited space to formulate their proposal, they have already announced amendments on reproductive and sexual health, in particular regarding the recognition of the right to abortion.
All political groups welcomed the interim report. Only Margarita de la Pisa Carrión (ECR, Spanish) felt that “the EU should not ratify something that the Member States have not ratified themselves”.
To read the draft interim report: https://aeur.eu/f/4ck (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)