Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2025)246 - EU position at the 18th meeting of the Committee of the Parties to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence on the adoption of recommendations and conclusions addressed to 10 State Parties on their implementation of that Convention, with regard to matters related to judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2025)246 - EU position at the 18th meeting of the Committee of the Parties to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and ... |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2025)246  |
| date | 13-05-2025 |
1. Subject matter of the proposal
This proposal concerns the decision establishing the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf, at the 18th meeting of the Committee of the Parties (‘CoP’) of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (‘the Istanbul Convention’ or ‘the Convention’) on 5-6 June 2025, in connection with the envisaged adoption of eight draft recommendations and two draft conclusions addressed to 10 Parties on their implementation of the Convention.
2. Context of the proposal
2.1.The Istanbul Convention
The Istanbul Convention lays down a comprehensive and harmonised set of rules to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence in Europe and beyond. The Convention entered into force on 1 August 2014.
The EU signed the Convention in June 2017, and completed the accession procedure with the deposit of two instruments of approval on 28 June 2023, triggering the entry into force of the Convention for the EU on 1 October 2023. The EU has acceded to the Convention as regards matters falling within its exclusive competence, namely with regard to matters related to institutions and public administration of the Union 1 and with regard to matters related to judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement 2 . All EU Member States have signed the Convention and 22 have ratified it 3 .
2.2.The Committee of the Parties
The CoP 4 is composed of the representatives of the Parties to the Convention. Parties must endeavour to nominate, as their representatives, experts of the highest possible rank in the field of preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence 5 . The tasks entrusted to the CoP are listed in Rule 1 of its Rules of Procedure 6 . On 1 October 2023 the EU became a Party to the Istanbul Convention, and as such a member of the CoP (Article 67(1) of the Convention).
2.3.The monitoring mechanism of the Istanbul Convention
The Istanbul Convention establishes a monitoring mechanism to ensure effective implementation by the Parties 7 . The purpose is to assess how the Convention is put into practice and to provide guidance to the Parties. The monitoring mechanism consists of two distinct, but interacting, bodies: an independent expert body (the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence ‘GREVIO’); and the CoP.
GREVIO is an independent group of experts tasked to monitor the implementation of the Istanbul Convention on a country-by-country basis, in accordance with Article 66(1) of the Convention. The monitoring procedure is set out in Article 68 of the Convention. In accordance with Article 68(1) of the Convention, new Parties are required to submit a report, based on a questionnaire prepared by GREVIO, detailing legislative and other measures taken to give effect to the Convention. GREVIO prepares a report on the measures taken by the Party concerned to implement the Convention and gives suggestions and proposals on the way in which the Party may deal with problems that have been identified 8 .
Based on the GREVIO reports, the CoP, in accordance with Article 68(12) of the Convention, may adopt recommendations addressed to the Party concerned on the implementation of the Convention and set a date for the Party to submit a response on their implementation. Based on this provision, the CoP has been adopting recommendations to Parties which differentiate between actions that should be taken as soon as possible, with a requirement to report back within a three year-period, and actions that while important, do not carry the same level of immediacy. At the end of the three-year period, the Party must report back to the CoP on the progress made in implementing the recommendations that were addressed to it. On the basis of this information, and any additional information obtained, the Secretariat of the Committee 9 prepares the conclusions on the implementation of the recommendations in relation to each Party under review, which the CoP adopt.
As the baseline evaluation procedure has been completed for nearly all Parties, GREVIO decided in late 2022 to move to the next phase in its evaluation. Under Article 68(3) of the Convention, GREVIO’s evaluation procedures following the baseline evaluation shall be divided into rounds (‘thematic evaluation rounds’). The first thematic evaluation round is entitled ‘Building Trust by Delivering Support, Protection and Justice’ which runs from 2023 to 2031. While the baseline evaluation covered around 60 articles of the Istanbul Convention, the new thematic evaluation procedure addresses 20 articles, namely Articles 3, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 25, 31, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53 and 56. These articles set out standards for law enforcement agencies, criminal justice actors, the provision of general and specialist support services for victims, and an overall victim-centred approach. The aim is to provide a more in-depth assessment of these areas, focusing on the progress made under each article. At its last meeting in December 2024, the CoP adopted a Decision on the recommendations to be adopted by the Committee of the Parties in light of GREVIO’s reports adopted as part of its first thematic round of evaluation [IC-CP(2024)10 rev].
To date, the CoP’s practice has been to adopt recommendations and conclusions based on consensus at its meetings which take place upon request 10 , by one third of the Parties, the President of the Committee of the Parties or the Secretary General, normally twice a year.
2.4.The envisaged acts of the Committee of the Parties
On 5-6 June 2025, during its 18th meeting, it is foreseen that the CoP will proceed with the adoption of the following eight draft recommendations based on the first thematic evaluation round, and two conclusions (‘the envisaged acts’ or ‘the draft recommendations and conclusions’):
–Recommendations on improving trust by delivering support, protection and justice on the basis of the Istanbul Convention by Albania [IC-CP(2025)2-prov];
–Recommendations on improving trust by delivering support, protection and justice on the basis of the Istanbul Convention by Austria [IC-CP(2025)3-prov]
–Recommendations on improving trust by delivering support, protection and justice on the basis of the Istanbul Convention by Denmark [IC-CP(2025)4-prov]
–Recommendations on improving trust by delivering support, protection and justice on the basis of the Istanbul Convention by Finland [IC-CP(2025)5-prov]
–Recommendations on improving trust by delivering support, protection and justice on the basis of the Istanbul Convention by Monaco [IC-CP(2025)6-prov]
–Recommendations on improving trust by delivering support, protection and justice on the basis of the Istanbul Convention by Montenegro [IC-CP(2025)7-prov]
–Recommendations on improving trust by delivering support, protection and justice on the basis of the Istanbul Convention by Spain [IC-CP(2025)8-prov]
–Recommendations on improving trust by delivering support, protection and justice on the basis of the Istanbul Convention by Sweden [IC-CP(2025)9-prov]
–Conclusions on the implementation of recommendations in respect of San Marino adopted by the Committee of the Parties [IC-CP(2025)10-prov];
–Conclusions on the implementation of recommendations in respect of Slovenia adopted by the Committee of the Parties [IC-CP(2025)11-prov].
3. Position to be taken on the Union’s behalf
The envisaged acts are addressed to 10 Parties and include eight recommendations (based on the first thematic evaluation procedure) on measures to be taken to implement the Istanbul Convention as well as conclusions on the Parties’ implementation of previous recommendations. They concern the implementation of provisions of the Convention which relate to judicial cooperation in criminal matters, such as matters relating to the protection of victims and support for victims of violence against women and domestic violence, and – as regards the conclusions addressed to one Party – also the implementation of provisions relating to asylum and non-refoulement. These matters are covered by the Union acquis, in particular the Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence 11 , the Victims’ Rights Directive 12 , the Asylum Procedures Regulation 13 , 14 .and the Family Reunification Directive 15 They fall within EU’s exclusive competence insofar as the relevant provisions of the Convention may affect common rules or alter their scope within the meaning of Article 3 i of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). As the envisaged acts are capable of decisively influencing the content of Union law in that they may affect the interpretation of relevant provisions of the Convention in the future, it is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Unions behalf in the CoP with regard to matters related to judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement.
The draft recommendations and conclusions on matters falling within the competence of the Union are in line with the Union’s objectives and policies in the areas of judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement and do not raise any concerns with respect to Union law. It is therefore proposed that the Union does not object to the adoption of the draft recommendations and conclusions at the 18th meeting of the CoP.
4. Legal basis
4.1.Procedural legal basis
Contents
Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides for decisions establishing ‘the positions to be adopted on the Union’s behalf in a body set up by an agreement, when that body is called upon to adopt acts having legal effects, with the exception of acts supplementing or amending the institutional framework of the agreement.’
The concept of ‘acts having legal effects’ includes acts that have legal effects by virtue of the rules of international law governing the body in question. It also includes instruments that do not have a binding effect under international law, but that are ‘capable of decisively influencing the content of the legislation adopted by the EU legislature’ 16 .
The CoP is a body set up by the Istanbul Convention. The envisaged acts which the CoP is called upon to adopt constitute acts having legal effects. The envisaged acts are capable of decisively influencing the content of Union law, because they may affect the interpretation of the relevant provisions of the Istanbul Convention in the future. Therefore, the procedural legal basis for the proposed decision is Article 218(9) TFEU.
4.2.Substantive legal basis
The substantive legal basis for a decision under Article 218(9) TFEU depends primarily on the objective and content of the envisaged act in respect of which a position is taken on the Union’s behalf. If the envisaged act pursues two aims or has two components and if one of those aims or components is identifiable as the main one, whereas the other is merely incidental, the decision under Article 218(9) TFEU must be founded on a single substantive legal basis, namely that required by the main or predominant aim or component.
With regard to an envisaged act that simultaneously pursues a number of objectives, or that has several components, which are inseparably linked without one being incidental to the other, the substantive legal basis of a decision under Article 218(9) TFEU will have to include, exceptionally, the various corresponding legal bases.
As regards the substantive legal basis, the EU has acceded to the Istanbul Convention as regards matters falling within its exclusive competence, namely with regard to matters related to institutions and public administration of the Union 17 and with regard to matters related to judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement 18 . The EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention was split into two separate Council decisions to take into account the special position of Denmark and Ireland with respect to Title V TFEU. Consequently, the decision establishing the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the CoP also needs to be split into two decisions, when the relevant recommendations or conclusions concern both matters.
The envisaged acts pursue objectives and have components in the area of judicial cooperation in criminal matters (Article 82 i and Article 84 TFEU), as well as on asylum and non-refoulement (Articles 78 i TFEU). They are inseparably linked without one being incidental to the other. Therefore, the substantive legal basis for the proposed decision comprises the following provisions: Article 78 i, Article 82 i and Article 84 TFEU.
4.3.Conclusion
The legal basis of the proposed decision should be Article 78 i, Article 82 i and Article 84, in conjunction with Article 218(9) TFEU.