EU Accession to the European Convention on Human Rights: A New Hope

Abstract

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2024 9(2), 695-713 | Article | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. – II. How the EU and its Member States worked together. – III. Lessons from Opinion 2/13. – IV. State of play. – V. Conclusion. | (Abstract) This Article discusses three aspects of the negotiations on EU accession to the ECHR that took place between 2020 and 2023. First, it describes the way in which the EU and its Member States worked together during the negotiations. Second, it discusses Opinion 2/13 and argues that it reflects the Court of Justice’s profound attachment to the EU’s own constitutional space as a precondition for “the process of integration that is the raison d’être of the EU itself”. Third, it provides a short overview of the amendments to the accession instruments. It concludes that the negotiations were an exercise in collective problem solving and an essential step forward on the road towards EU accession to the Convention.

Keywords

• fundamental rights
• eu accession to the european convention on human rights
• opinion 2/13
• mutual trust
• autonomy of eu law
• dnegotiations