The EU strengthening of its human rights framework will also result in an increasingly close relationship between it and the Council of Europe’s human rights frameworks. The Lisbon Treaty required for the first time that the EU accede to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (Article 6(2) TEU). Currently the ECHR constitutes general principles of EU law but is not binding on EU institutions.
As a result, once accession has been agreed, in the future it will be possible for persons in the EU Member States to bring claims in the European Court of Human Rights, where it is alleged that EU institutions have breached the ECHR, or Member States have breached the ECHR in implementing EU law.
In the context of this e-learning course it has to be mentioned also the EU efforts to accede to the Council of Europe Convention (Istanbul Convention) on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. In May 2017 the Council of the European Union approved the signature of the Convention. The decision on signing is the first step in the process of the EU joining the Convention. Following the official signing, accession requires the adoption of the decisions on the conclusion of the Convention. These decisions will need the consent of the European Parliament. The Convention is the most comprehensive international treaty on combating violence against women and domestic violence and sets out minimum standards on prevention, protection, prosecution and services.