CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

EMIL RUFFER CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ STRANGE CASE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION’S POSITION

IN THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE: MORE THAN AN OBSERVER, LESS THAN A MEMBER STATE? Emil Ruffer 1

Abstract: The aim of this article is to describe the position of the European Union in the Council of Europe both in terms of the applicable legal framework and the current practice. The article first looks at the origins and history of the EU – Council of Europe cooperation and partnership, and then analyses the legal and practical implications of the observer status to the Council of Europe, which is primarily designed for States, with regard to the EU as an international intergovernmental organisation. Finally, it assesses the extent of the EU’s participation both in the main statutory body of the Council of Europe, i.e. the Committee of Ministers and its subsidiary groups, and in other structures of the Council of Europe, and draws some conclusions in terms of possible clarifications or amendments to the EU’s status. Resume : Cílem tohoto příspěvku je popsat postavení Evropské unie v Radě Evropy, a to jak z hlediska platného právního rámce, tak i současné praxe. Článek se nejprve zabývá počát- ky a vývojem spolupráce a partnerství mezi EU a Radou Evropy, a poté analyzuje právní a praktické implikace pozorovatelského statusu při Radě Evropy, jenž je primárně určen pro státy, ve vztahu k EU jako mezinárodní mezivládní organizaci. Nakonec je zhodnocen roz- sah participace EU jak ve Výboru ministrů, tj. hlavním statutárním orgánu a jeho pomoc- ných orgánech, tak i v ostatních strukturách Rady Evropy, a učiněny dílčí závěry ve smyslu možného zpřesnění či změn statusu EU. Key words : European Union, Council of Europe, Committee of Ministers, strategic partnership, observer status, European Convention on Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights, subsidiary groups, Treaty of Lisbon, Memorandum of Understanding between the Council of Europe and the European Union, Delegation of the European Union About the Author : JUDr. Emil Ruffer, Ph.D. was born in Prague in 1974. Graduated from the Charles University, Faculty of Law, in 2001. He also read English and American Literature at the Charles University, Faculty of Arts. From 1996 to 1997 he studied European Law and Politics at the Cardiff Law School under the Tempus (PHARE) programme; for the academic year 2000–2001 he received Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship for studies of European and International Public Law at the Humboldt University in Berlin. In 2007 he received Ph.D. from the Charles University, Faculty of Law upon completing research in the area of legal aspects of EU external relations, which is one his fields of specialisation. In 2011 he spent 6 months as a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at Fordham Law School in New York. He has been working in the EU Law Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic since 2003 and as its director from 2008 to 2016. Subsequently, he has been posted to Strasbourg since April 2016 as the Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the Council of Europe.

1 The author is the Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the Council of Europe. However, the opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily correspond with the official position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and do not bind this institution in any way.

36