EU accession to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence

I voted in favor of the interim report on the conclusion of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. The EU and its Member States must use all available national and common instruments to combat gender-based violence and to support and protect the victims of such crimes. This Council of Europe Convention (Istanbul Convention), which entered into force in 2014, is the first legally binding international instrument on preventing and combating violence against women and girls on an international scale. By September 2022, it had been signed by all EU member states and ratified by 21 of them. Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia have yet to ratify this convention. On October 6, 2021, the European Court of Justice issued its opinion determining the applicable legal basis and found that there are no legal obstacles preventing the Council from ratifying on behalf of the EU by qualified majority. Parliament therefore calls on the Council to ensure the swift ratification of the Istanbul Convention by the EU.

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