PURPOSE: to conclude, on behalf of the European Union, of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence with regard to the institutions and public administration of the Union.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Decision (EU) 2023/1075 of 1 June 2023 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence with regard to institutions and public administration of the Union.

CONTENT: under the terms of this Decision, the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence is hereby approved on behalf of the Union in so far as it applies to its institutions and public administration . The Union's accession to the Convention shall be without prejudice to the competence of the Member States to ratify the Convention in respect of matters falling within their national competences.

The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence is the first international instrument aiming to eliminate violence against women , including girls under the age of 18, as a root cause of persisting inequality between men and women, by setting up a comprehensive framework of legal and policy measures to prevent violence against women and protect and assist victims of such violence. The Convention entered into force on 1 April 2014.

The Convention was signed on 13 June 2017 on behalf of the Union with regard to matters covered by the Convention that fall within the exclusive competence of the European Union, subject to its conclusion at a later date.

The Convention creates a comprehensive and multidimensional legal framework to protect women against all forms of violence. It aims to prevent, prosecute and eliminate violence against women and girls and domestic violence. It includes a range of measures, from data collection and awareness-raising to legal measures to criminalise different forms of violence against women. It includes measures for the protection of victims and the provision of support services and addresses the gender-based violence dimension of asylum and migration. To ensure effective implementation of its provisions by the parties, the Convention establishes a specific monitoring mechanism.

Violence against women is not only a criminal offence but also a violation of their human rights and an extreme form of discrimination, entrenched in gender inequalities and contributing to maintaining and reinforcing them. By committing to the implementation of the Convention, the Union confirms its engagement in combating violence against women within its territory and globally and reinforces its current political action and existing substantial legal framework in the area of criminal procedural law, which is of particular relevance for women and girls.

This Decision concerns the provisions of the Convention only in so far as they are applicable to the institutions and public administration of the Union. It does not concern the provisions of the Convention relating to judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum or non-refoulement, which are covered by a separate Council Decision adopted in parallel with this Decision.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 22.6.2023.

The European Parliament adopted by 472 votes to 62, with 73 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence with regard to institutions and public administration of the Union.

The European Parliament gave its consent to the conclusion of the Convention.

The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women (‘Istanbul Convention’), which came into force in 2014, is the first legally binding international instrument on preventing and combating violence against women and girls at international level. It is the first international text that is legally defining violence against women and establishes a comprehensive framework of legal and policy measures for preventing such violence, supporting victims and punishing perpetrators.

The Convention recognises violence against women as a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women. It covers various forms of gender-based violence against women, which refers to violence directed against women because they are women or violence affecting them disproportionately.

The Convention defines and criminalises various forms of violence against women: psychological violence, stalking, physical violence, including rape, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, forced abortion, forced sterilisation as well as sexual harassment. It prevents violence by obliging parties to invest in education, training for experts, and treatment programmes for perpetrators. It protects victims by obliging states to establish appropriate support services.

The Istanbul Convention is at the centre of a monitoring system, based on a two pillar monitoring mechanism: (i) an independent expert body (GREVIO), which draws up reports on the themes of the Convention; (ii) a Committee of the Parties (which follows up on GREVIO reports and makes recommendations to the parties concerned).

The Council has now requested the European Parliament’s consent to the conclusion of the Convention divided in two draft decisions one with regard to institutions and public administration of the Union, and the other with regard to matters related to judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement.

The European Parliament adopted by 489 votes to 114, with 69 abstentions, a resolution on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion, by the European Union, of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

Members recalled that gender-based violence should be treated as a serious and urgent issue as it concerns more than 250 million women and girls in the EU alone.

Some groups of women and girls, such as migrant women, women refugees and asylum seekers, women and girls with disabilities, LBTI women and Roma women, are at risk of multiple discrimination and are therefore even more vulnerable to violence.

Condemning all forms of violence against women, Parliament welcomed the signing of the EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention on 13 June 2017. It urged the Estonian Presidency to speed up the EU’s ratification of the Convention , the first comprehensive legally binding international instrument on preventing and combating violence against women and gender-based violence, including domestic violence.

Members stressed that the EU’s accession to the Convention will ensure a coherent European legal framework to prevent and combat violence against women and gender-based violence and to protect and support victims in the EU’s internal and external policies.

Parliament invited the Council, the Commission and the Member States to take account of a series of recommendations, including:

initiating a constructive dialogue with the Council and Member States, in cooperation with the Council of Europe, so as to address reservations, objections and concerns expressed by Member States, and in particular to clarify misleading interpretations of the Istanbul Convention; keeping Parliament fully informed at all stages of the negotiations and ensuring that it is involved in the monitoring process of the Convention; ensuring that Member States ensure the proper application of the Convention and allocate adequate financial resources to preventing and combating violence against women; drawing up a holistic EU strategy on combating violence against women and gender-based violence; designating an EU Coordinator to act as representative of the EU to the Committee of the Parties at the Council of Europe once the Istanbul Convention is ratified by the EU; producing practical guidelines and strategies for the application of the Istanbul Convention; taking the necessary measures pursuant to Articles 60 and 61 of the Convention on migration and asylum, taking into account the fact that migrant women and girls have the right to live free from violence.

The Commission was also called upon to:

present a legal act to support Member States in their efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women; revise the EU framework decision currently in force on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law, in order to include sexism, bias crime and incitement to hatred on grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics.

Lastly, Parliament called for the creation of a European Monitoring Observatory on gender-based violence.

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, together with the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, adopted the interim report by Anna Maria CORAZZA BILDT (EPP, SE) and Christine REVAULT D'ALLONNES BONNEFOY (S&D, FR) on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion, by the European Union, of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

The committee asked the Estonian Presidency to speed up the ratification by the Union of the Istanbul Convention , stressing that the accession of the Union to the Convention will ensure the establishment of a coherent European legal framework to prevent and combat violence against women and gender-based violence

While welcoming the signing of EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention on 13 June 2017, Members regretted the fact that the limitation to two areas, namely matters relating to judicial cooperation in criminal matters and those related to asylum and non-refoulement, raised legal uncertainties as to the scope of the EU’s accession.

The report invited the Council, the Commission and the Member States to take account of a series of recommendations , including:

initiating a constructive dialogue with the Council and Member States, in cooperation with the Council of Europe, so as to address reservations, objections and concerns expressed by Member States, and in particular to clarify misleading interpretations of the Istanbul Convention; keeping Parliament fully informed at all stages of the negotiations and ensuring that it is involved in the monitoring process of the Convention; ensuring that Member States ensure the proper application of the Convention and allocate adequate financial resources to preventing and combating violence against women; drawing up a holistic EU strategy on combating violence against women and gender-based violence; designating an EU Coordinator to act as representative of the EU to the Committee of the Parties at the Council of Europe once the Istanbul Convention is ratified by the EU; producing practical guidelines and strategies for the application of the Istanbul Convention; taking the necessary measures pursuant to Articles 60 and 61 of the Convention on migration and asylum , taking into account the fact that migrant women and girls have the right to live free from violence.

Members also called on the Commission to present a legal act to support Member States in their efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and to set up a European Monitoring Observatory on gender-based violence.

For its part, the Council should activate the passerelle clause by adopting a unanimous decision to identify violence against women and girls (and other forms of gender-based violence) as an area of crime under Article 83(1) TFEU.