On Friday 31 October, the European Commission asked Latvia to wait until the end of the legislative process and did not rule out launching infringement proceedings against the Member State if it withdrew from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention, which aims to prevent and combat violence against women (see EUROPE 13262/20).
Latvia’s president, Edgars Rinkēvičs, still has to “consider and formalise this vote” of the Latvian parliament, said Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, a Commission spokesperson, refusing to “speculate” at this stage on any initiative the EU institution might take.
Ms Itkonen pointed out that a signatory state could withdraw from this convention, which came into force in the EU in October 2023 (see EUROPE 13262/20). Nevertheless, the European Union has itself acceded to certain areas of the Convention, including: rules applicable to the EU institutions, asylum and immigration issues, police and judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, and gender equality in the labour market.
In these areas of exclusive EU competence, a Member State withdrawing from the Convention would still have to comply with international standards. Failure to do so may result in infringement proceedings being launched.
“All Member States are bound by [these provisions]”, confirmed Ms Itkonen.
On Thursday evening, the Latvian parliament, led by right-wing opposition parties and the Union of Greens and Peasants party, a member of the government coalition, approved Latvia’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention (56 votes in favour, 32 against and 2 abstentions).
Mr Rinkēvičs, who opposes Latvia’s withdrawal, had indicated on X that he would assess the adopted law “taking into account state and legal considerations, and not ideological or political ones”.
The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Theodoros Rousopoulos, described the Latvian Parliament’s vote as “unprecedented and deeply worrying step backwards for women’s rights and human rights in Europe”. In a statement on behalf of Amnesty International, Monica Costa Riba condemned the decision as being “driven by powerful anti-rights groups spreading harmful disinformation about this vital safeguard in order to demonise gender equality, women’s and LGBTI people’s rights”.
Within the Council of Europe, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have not ratified the Istanbul Convention. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)