The accession of the European Union/European Community to the European Convention on Human Rights
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 17 April 2008 (17th Sitting) (see Doc. 11533, report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human
Rights, rapporteur: Mrs Marie-Louise Bemelmans-Videc). Text adopted by the Assembly on
17 April 2008 (17th Sitting).
- Thesaurus
1. The Parliamentary Assembly notes
with satisfaction that today there is a broad consensus on the question
of the accession of the European Union to the European Convention
on Human Rights (ECHR – ETS No. 5).
2. Calls for this accession have been issued for a long time
and on numerous occasions, including by the Assembly, most recently
in its
Recommendation
1744 (2006) on follow-up to the 3rd Summit: the Council of Europe
and the proposed fundamental rights agency of the European Union.
3. The Council of Europe and the European Union reiterated their
common resolve to effect this accession when concluding the Memorandum
of understanding between the Council of Europe and the European
Union signed in May 2007. The legal path to accession is already
laid out in Protocol No. 14 to the ECHR and was opened once again
by the adoption in December 2007 of the Treaty of Lisbon amending
the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European
Community.
4. The Assembly considers that henceforth accession must be the
priority in the dialogue between the two organisations.
5. Whereas accession to the ECHR is one of the conditions of
entry into the European Union listed among the 1993 Copenhagen criteria,
the institutions of the European Union/European Community are presently
not bound by the ECHR. The fact that the European Union member states
– all member states of the Council of Europe and parties to the
ECHR – have transferred substantial powers to supranational institutions
without transmission of the responsibilities accruing from the ECHR
conveys a negative message by giving the impression of disparate
legal protection.
6. Non-accession has adverse effects on the proper functioning
of European justice as it imperils the coherence of the system of
human rights safeguards in Europe. As long as the European Union
has not acceded to the ECHR:
6.1 there
will be divergences in human rights standards both at European level
(between European institutions) and between the European Union and
its member states;
6.2 the European Union institutions will not come under external
judicial supervision where respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms is concerned;
6.3 the coherence of European legal protection will not be
fully assured, since the case law of the European Court of Human
Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Communities might
not be appropriately harmonised;
6.4 European citizens will not have direct access to the European
Court of Human Rights when they consider that their fundamental
rights have been violated by the European Union’s institutions;
6.5 execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human
Rights will remain a difficult undertaking in cases involving European
Union law.
7. Accession will convey a strong message of a clear commitment
to the protection of human rights not only within the boundaries
of the European Union but also Europe-wide, in keeping with the
community of values shared by the Council of Europe and the European
Union.
8. Accession will also confirm the European Union’s essence as
a “community based on law” and will strengthen the principle of
legal certainty, to the extent that the European Union institutions
will be subject to the same external review of the conformity of
their acts and decisions as are member states.
9. The Assembly considers it high time for the declarations of
intent to be translated into action by the European Union’s prompt
accession to the ECHR.
10. In this context, the Assembly questions the expediency of
the procedural changes added by the Treaty of Lisbon, which provides
that the decision on the agreement on European Union accession to
the ECHR be adopted by the Council of the European Union unanimously,
only after approval by the European Parliament. These additions
may well have the effect of slowing down the accession procedure.
11. The Assembly is convinced that there is no longer any need
for delay in opening negotiations on practical questions linked
with accession, since there is a clear political will on both sides
and a legal framework permitting accession.
12. The Assembly therefore calls upon the governments of the European
Union member states to apply themselves to this task without delay
while adopting a positive, creative approach in order to find workable
and effective solutions to the technical and legal questions raised
by accession, and calls upon the European Union to expedite the
conclusion of the necessary instruments for accession.
13. The Assembly also urges the European Parliament to take timely
steps for the prompt approval of the decision on the agreement relating
to the accession of the European Union to the ECHR.
14. Finally, the Assembly urges the parliaments of all member
states to act quickly to ratify the necessary instruments for accession.
