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 European Union | Council of Europe |
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Council of Europe–European Union relations are thebilateral relations between theCouncil of Europe and theEuropean Union. The Council of Europe and the European Union have sharedrelations since 1992. Almost 180 programmes have been implemented between the two European organisations in areas such ashuman rights,culture,democracy, and therule of law. All27 EU member states are members of the Council of Europe, which consists of46 member states in total.
In May 2005, theMember states of the Council of Europe, meeting in Warsaw, expressed their wish to see the European Union join the Council of Europe and theEuropean Convention on Human Rights. In practice, theCourt of Justice of the European Union rulings have already been delivered in such a way as to be consistent with the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. This accession is not intended to subordinate the European Union to the Council of Europe, nor even to amend thetreaties. This would make it possible to subject to external control the respect for fundamental rights to which the Union's institutions are already subject.[citation needed]
The accession of the European Union was to be made possible by the ratification of Protocol 14 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. On 5 April 2013, the European Union and the Council of Europe finalised a draft agreement for the EU's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights. In order to be adopted, the draft agreement had to be submitted to the opinion of theEU Court of Justice, followed by unanimous support from themember states for accession, two-thirds support from theEuropean Parliament and ratification by the national parliaments of the Council of Europe member states. However, on 18 December 2014, the Court of Justice delivered a negative opinion (No 2/2013) on the accession of the European Union to the ECHR due to legal incompatibilities.[1] The process therefore came to a halt. After this stalemate, someItalian senators put forward a new proposal, based on a partial merger of the two courts.[citation needed]
Nevertheless, the European Union has since become a party to some Council of Europe treaties as an "international organisation", such as theIstanbul Convention (acceded on 13 June 2017, ratified on 28 June 2023, entered into force on 1 October 2023).[2] It did so with a declaration explaining the legal competences of the Union on the one hand and the Member States on the other in relation to the Council of Europe and the Convention.[3]
The two institutions are often confused, which has led the Council of Europe to try to distinguish itself from the EU. Thus, the Council of Europe website includes a section entitled "Do not get confused" which summarises the various institutional points that need to be distinguished.[4]
This confusion is mainly caused by the closeness of the names of their bodies and institutions.[citation needed]
1. The European Union ('the Union') hereby declares the specific areas of its competence in the matters covered by the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence ('the Convention') at the time of its accession to the Convention. 2. Pursuant to Articles 3 and 4 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), in some matters the Union has exclusive competence and in other matters competence is shared between the Union and its Member States. (...)
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