The Eu Accession to the Echr

Article 6 TEU provides that the EU will accede to the system of human rights protection of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Protocol No. 9 in the Lisbon Treaty opens the way for accession. This represents a major change in the relationship between two organizations that have cooperated closely in the past, though the ECHR has hitherto exercised only an indirect constitutional control over the EU legal order through scrutiny of EU Member States. The accession of the EU to the ECHR is expected to put an end to the hegemonic struggle between the two regimes in Europe and to establish formal (both normative and institutional) hierarchies. In this new era, some old problems will be solved and new ones will appear. Questions - of autonomy and independence, of attribution and allocation of responsibility, of cooperation and legal pluralism - will arise, with effects upon the protection of human rights in Europe. This book examines how relations between the two organizations are likely to evolve after accession, and whether this new model will bring more coherence in European human rights protection. The book compares - from several different, yet interconnected, points of view - relevant practice, and it explores the draft Accession Agreement, shedding light on future developments in the ECHR and beyond. Contributions in the book span classic public international law, EU law, and the law of the ECHR, and are written by a mix of legal and non-legal experts from academia and practice. (Series: Modern Studies in European Law)

Vasiliki Kosta is Assistant Professor of European Law at Leiden University. Nikos Skoutaris is Lecturer of EU Law at the University of East Anglia and Visiting Senior Fellow at the European Institute, London School of Economics. Vassilis Tzevelekos is a Lecturer in Public International Law at the University of Hull.