The Council of the EU, meeting in the ‘General Affairs’ Council (GAC) on Tuesday 21 February, formally requested the approval of the European Parliament to adopt the decisions on the ratification by the EU of the Istanbul Convention. This is a promising step forward, to which the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council committed itself (see EUROPE 13107/12, 13093/8), even though 6 years have passed since the Union signed the reference text on the fight against violence against women.
“One in three women in the EU have experienced physical or sexual violence […] The EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention is a strong sign of our commitment to end this violence and will play an important role in prevention and prosecution of these acts”, said the Swedish Minister for Gender Equality, Paulina Brandberg.
Two new decisions for ratification
Following the 2021 opinion of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) (see EUROPE 12806/20), the EU Council has presented two new decisions for ratification, which EUROPE has consulted. The first concerns the application of the Convention within the EU institutions and administrations, while the second concerns the right of asylum and non-refoulement and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.
In essence, the Istanbul Convention is a “mixed agreement”: some provisions fall within the exclusive competence of the Union and others within that of the Member States. In concrete terms, and as already established at the time of signature in 2017, the EU will ratify the Convention for matters within its competence. For the rest, European countries retain their competences, provided that the convention does not affect the common rules of the EU.
On the other hand, following the opinion of the CJEU, the new decisions revise those of 2017 (2017/865 and 2017/866), extending in particular the legal basis to Article 84 TFEU which establishes the competence of the EU to adopt crime prevention measures, as plebiscited by the Commission and the European Parliament.
A code of conduct to divide the tasks
To accompany these decisions, Stockholm prepared a declaration specifying the EU’s competences in matters governed by the Istanbul Convention and a Code of Conduct, which EUROPE has obtained.
The latter is established between the EU Council, the Member States parties to the Convention and the European Commission. It sets out the division of labour in the implementation of the Istanbul Convention, acting as a “practical internal tool for the Union and its Member States to achieve coherent, comprehensive and unified external representation”.
Furthermore, the Code specifies that the Commission will be responsible for coordinating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating EU measures in matters within its competence, including reporting to the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO).
European Parliament agreement: a formality?
Despite the reluctance of some Member States, the Istanbul Convention seems to have better days ahead. “This has to be confirmed by the European Parliament, but it is only a formality”, said Anna Lührmann, German Minister of State for European Affairs, ahead of the GAC.
Indeed, the European Parliament adopted last week a report encouraging the EU Council to ratify the Istanbul Convention (see EUROPE 13122/9). And after the GAC, the reactions on social networks were not long in coming. Arba Kokalari (EPP, Swedish), for example, called the EU Council’s announcement “a historic step for gender equality in Europe”. The S&D group, meanwhile, welcomed a “sign of hope that the impasse has been overcome”, adding, however, a cautious “we will evaluate, in detail, the EU Council’s position”.
For EU Council decisions on the application of the Convention within the EU institutions and administrations: https://aeur.eu/f/5fn
For decisions on judicial cooperation, asylum and non-refoulement: https://aeur.eu/f/5fo
To read the declaration on EU competences: https://aeur.eu/f/5fm
To read the Code of Conduct: https://aeur.eu/f/5fl (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)