Abstract
The question of the influence of international organisations on the European Union is a topical one for the Council of Europe, in particular now that the accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights has become a priority for both organisations. The links between the Council of Europe and the European Union were established since their inception and have been progressively institutionalised with a view to increasing co-ordination between their respective activities. This sound institutional framework has constituted a favourable ground for normative interaction. The Member States of the European Union were members of the Council of Europe before joining the European Union. They were therefore acquainted with the work done within the Council of Europe, in particular in the field of standard-setting. This certainly contributed to a better knowledge of the work of the Council of Europe within European Union institutions. As a result a number of Council of Europe conventions are today part of the acquis of the European Union in the area of freedom, security and justice. In this connection, negotiations within the Council of Europe often helped to set up a common legal basis, with underlying common values, on which the European Union elaborated more specific rules. This chapter will focus, first, on the institutional relations between the European Union and the Council of Europe and, then, on the normative influence of the Council of Europe on the European Union, with a view to demonstrating the effectiveness of this interaction.
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Notes
- 1.
ECJ Case 6/64 Costa v ENEL [1964] ECR 585.
- 2.
Article 1.a of the Statute of the Council of Europe.
- 3.
Smithers 1968, 491.
- 4.
Article 1.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe.
- 5.
The full list of Council of Europe conventions is available on the website of the Treaty Office of the Council of Europe: http://conventions.coe.int (last accessed 10 May 2012).
- 6.
Reference is made in particular to recommendations to the governments of the Member States adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, for example, Recommendation Rec(2006)2 of 11 January 2006, European Prison Rules, or to standards developed by monitoring bodies, such as the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture.
- 7.
Juncker 2006, 13. See also the Declaration of Warsaw, adopted in May 2005 by the Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the Council of Europe, which underlined the “standard-setting potential of the Council of Europe”; as well as the considerable amount of academic writings on the activities carried out by the Council of Europe in the field of human rights.
- 8.
Juncker 2006, 1.
- 9.
The compendium of texts governing the relations between the Council of Europe and the European Union (published in 2001 by the Council of Europe) and the 2007 Memorandum of Understanding are available on the website of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe: http://www.coe.int/cm (last accessed 10 May 2012).
- 10.
The resolutions adopted from 1953 to 1967 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the general reports of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community on the activities of the European Community are available on the website of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe: http://assembly.coe.int (last accessed 10 May 2012).
- 11.
A similar provision appears in Article 220 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU):
(1) The Union shall establish all appropriate forms of cooperation with the organs of the United Nations and its specialised agencies, the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Union shall also maintain such relations as are appropriate with other international organisations. (2) The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Commission shall be instructed to implement this Article.
- 12.
Resolution Res(57)27 of 13 December 1957, Rationalisation of European institutions adopted by the Committee of Ministers.
- 13.
Resolution Res(74)4 of 24 January 1974, Future role of the Council of Europe, adopted by the Committee of Ministers.
- 14.
These intergovernmental expert committees, usually called “steering committees”, are set up by the Committee of Ministers pursuant to Article 17 of the Statute of the Council of Europe. They are made up of representatives from Member States, nominated by their governments. Observers from other countries and intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, as well as members of the Parliamentary Assembly, often attend the committees’ meetings and contribute to the discussions. These committees make proposals to the Committee of Ministers on new legal standards or adapting existing ones concerning issues within their competence. Then, the Committee of Ministers decides what action to take.
- 15.
- 16.
The list of conventions and protocols open to the participation of the European Union is available on the website of the Treaty Office of the Council of Europe: http://conventions.coe.int (last accessed 10 May 2012). On the participation of the European Union in Council of Europe conventions, see also Polakiewicz 1999, 57–76.
- 17.
Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, OJ 1992 L 206.
- 18.
Council Directive 98/58/EC of 20 July 1998 concerning the protection of animals kept for farming purposes, OJ 1998 L 221.
- 19.
Council Directive 86/609/EEC of 24 November 1986 on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States regarding the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes, OJ 1986 L 358 (this directive was revised in 2010), and Commission Recommendation 2007/526/EC of 18 June 2007 on guidelines for the accommodation and care of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes, OJ 2007 L 197.
- 20.
See for example Article 1 of Protocol No. 8 to the Treaty of Lisbon relating to Article 6(2) TEU, which specifies that “the agreement relating to the accession of the Union to the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms provided for in Article 6(2) of the Treaty on European Union shall make provision for preserving the specific characteristics of the Union and Union law”. Moreover, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled, in 2006, that “an international agreement cannot affect the allocation of responsibilities defined in the Treaties and, consequently, the autonomy of the Community legal system”, ECJ Case C-459/03 Commission v Ireland [2006] ECR I-4635, para 123.
- 21.
European Council, The Stockholm Programme—An open and secure Europe serving and protecting citizens, OJ 2010 C 115, p. 8.
- 22.
Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, speech on 7 July 2010 before the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, quoting ECJ Opinion 2/94 Accession by the Community to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms [1996] ECR I-01759. On the accession process, see De Schutter 2010, 535–571.
- 23.
ECJ Opinion 2/94 Accession by the Community to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms [1996] ECR I-01759.
- 24.
Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, OJ 1995 L 281.
- 25.
Recommendation Rec(87)15 of 17 September 1987 regulating the use of personal data in the police sector, adopted by the Committee of Ministers. See Article 27 on “Standard of data protection” of the EU Council Decision 2009/371/JHA of 6 April 2009 establishing the European Police Office (Europol), OJ 2009 L 121, and Article 117 of the Convention of 19 June 1990 implementing the Schengen agreement of 14 June 1985 between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders, OJ 2000 L 239.
- 26.
Council of the EU 2001. This document also refers to Protocol Nos 4, 6 (on the abolition of the death penalty), 7 and 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights, the Civil Law Convention on Corruption, the European Convention on Extradition and its two Additional Protocols, the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and its Additional Protocol, the Agreement on Illicit Traffic by Sea, implementing Article 17 of the UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, the European Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions concerning Custody of Children and on Restoration of Custody of Children, the European Convention on the International Validity of Criminal Judgments and the European Convention on the Transfer of Proceedings in Criminal Matters.
- 27.
Joint Action 98/429/JHA of 29 June 1998, OJ 1998 L 191, Article 3(1). The relevant Council of Europe conventions to which this Joint Action refers are those listed in Recommendation No. 13 of the Action Plan to Combat Organised Crime adopted on 28 April 1997 by the European Council: the European Convention on Extradition and its Second Protocol, the Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, the Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime, the Agreement on Illicit Traffic by Sea, implementing Article 17 of the UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, OJ 1997 C 251.
- 28.
Council Framework Decision 2008/919/JHA of 28 November 2008 amending Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA on combating terrorism, OJ 2008 L 330.
- 29.
Article 1 of the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Member States of the European Union of 29 May 2000, OJ 2000 C 197.
- 30.
European Council, The Stockholm Programme—An open and secure Europe serving and protecting citizens, OJ 2010 C 115, p. 37.
- 31.
ECJ Opinion 1/91 Draft agreement between the Community, on the one hand, and the countries of the European Free Trade Association, on the other, relating to the creation of the European Economic Area [1991] ECR I-06079.
- 32.
All documents related to the negotiation and drafting of this agreement are available on the website of the Council of Europe: www.coe.int/hrlawpolicy (last accessed 10 May 2012).
- 33.
See the Report of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of 16 September 2011, The impact of the Lisbon Treaty on the Council of Europe, Doc. 12713; see also Recommendation 1982(2011) and Resolution 1836(2011) both adopted on 5 October 2011 by the Parliamentary Assembly on the same subject.
- 34.
Article 83 TFEU refers to the following matters as areas where the EU may legislate: terrorism, trafficking in human beings and sexual exploitation of women and children, illicit drug trafficking, illicit arms trafficking, money laundering, corruption, counterfeiting of means of payment, computer crime and organised crime. These matters are those where some of the most significant conventions of the Council of Europe were concluded: the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, the European Convention on the Control of the Acquisition and Possession of Firearms by Individuals, the Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime, the Agreement on illicit traffic by sea, implementing Article 17 of the UN Convention against illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption, the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, the Convention on Cybercrime, the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism.
- 35.
Preamble of the 2007 Memorandum of Understanding between the Council of Europe and the European Union.
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Cornu, E. (2013). The Impact of Council of Europe Standards on the European Union. In: Wessel, R., Blockmans, S. (eds) Between Autonomy and Dependence. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague, The Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-6704-903-0_6
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