Commission seeks EU court nod for ECHR bid after years of gridlock

The Commission today formally decided to request an opinion from the Court of Justice on the compatibility of the revised draft agreement – concerning the EU’s accession to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms – with EU law.

If successful, EU accession to the convention would subject the bloc to binding rulings from the Strasbourg-based court, which already serves as the watchdog for all 46 Council of Europe member states.

Momentum has been building. As Euractiv reported last month, a breakthrough appeared imminent – later confirmed in June by Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath, who said he anticipated “being in a position to seek the formal opinion of the Court of Justice on the draft agreement shortly.”

Accession talks go back to the 1970s, and the Lisbon Treaty made it a legal requirement in 2009. Negotiations have been frozen for 15 years.

“The Commission will now proceed to prepare the request for an opinion and will then submit it to the Court in due time,” a spokesperson for the Commission told Euractiv.