Combating violence against women: MEPs back EU accession to Istanbul Convention
MEPs have voted to approve the European Union’s accession to the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, concluding Parliament’s role in the process, reads a press release of the European Parliament.
Six years after the EU signed the Istanbul Convention - the first legally binding international instrument on preventing and combating violence against women and girls - it has still not been ratified because of the refusal of a few member states, despite Parliament’s multiple calls to this end. However, the EU Court of Justice’s opinion of 6 October 2021 confirmed that the European Union can ratify the Istanbul Convention without having the agreement of all member states.
The Court found that the appropriate scope for the EU’s accession is asylum, judicial cooperation in criminal matters, and obligations of the EU institutions and public administration. In line with this, on Wednesday MEPs voted to give their consent in two separate votes: on institutions and public administration of the Union with 472 in favour, 62 against and 73 abstentions, on judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement with 464 in favour, 81 against, and 45 abstentions.
The EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention does not exempt member states from ratifying it themselves, MEPs have repeatedly said, urging the remaining six countries - Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia - to ratify the Convention without delay, so that it can protect women to the full extent of the Convention’s intended scope.
