“The provisional agreement on the European Union’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights makes it possible to resolve virtually all the problems”, declared the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, during an exchange of views with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, held on 12 October in Strasbourg. “However, the issue of protecting human rights within the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy remains to be resolved”, he added.
And this obstacle will not be easy to overcome, since an agreement in this area requires unanimity within the Council of the European Union, which means “working Member State by Member State”.
For Didier Reynders, this accession, which is an obligation imposed by the Treaty of Lisbon, is a “priority” and a “firm personal commitment” that goes hand in hand with that of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which “hopes to achieve unanimity”.
“It’s hard to say when this will be achieved”, replied the Commissioner to a question on the timetable put by Norwegian Socialist Lise Christoffersen.
Negotiations on the EU’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights began in 2010 before being interrupted by the rejection of an initial provisional agreement by the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2014.
They resumed in 2020 and a technical agreement was reached at an 18th meeting with representatives of the Council of Europe member states, held in spring 2023.
Apart from the question of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, which is still pending, the accession process will involve several stages, including a positive opinion from the EU Court of Justice and ratification by the European Parliament and national parliaments. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)