CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ STRANGE CASE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION’S POSITION IN THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE … participation should the internal matters of the organisation be discussed. Having said that, the practice might not always follow the legal assumption, and more legal clarity on this issue might be required. What remains entirely clear, though, is the fact that the EU does not have voting rights in the CM. In this respect, its position is (formally) fully comparable with that of the observer States. However, it might be argued that in certain instances, the EU can benefit from a coordinated position supported by 28 votes of its Member States. Despite this informal influence, it should be stressed that that the CM is still very much a consensus oriented body, and that adopting decisions by vote is quite rare. So the EU’s relative strength in terms of voting arithmetic should be seen from this perspective. Apart from the EU’s participation in the CM and its rapporteur groups, the EU covers most of the other activities of the CoE. It participates, on a regular basis, in intergovernmental steering committees, 42 committees established by a CM resolution 43 or conventions, 44 partial agreements 45 and enlarged partial agreements. 46 Last but not least, the EU enjoys a special status in the Venice Commission. 47 Most recently, the EU acquired an observer status in GRECO (Group of States against Corruption), 48 which might be the first step to a future full membership. 49 V. Conclusions The long standing relationship between the CoE and the EU has over years developed into a strategic partnership. 50 The EU is indeed an important and reliable partner, supporting the CoE not only politically, but also financially. It could be therefore expected that there will be a clear legal framework for the EU’s participation in the CoE structures, namely in the CM. It is rather strange to find out that this is somehow not the case. The EU’s status has gradually evolved and in some respects might be perceived as going beyond the legal boundaries of an “observer”. However, the precise nature of the EU’s status and the corresponding rights 42 Such as CDDH (Steering Committee for Human Rights) or CAHDI – Committee of Legal Advisers on Public International Law. 43 Such as CEPEJ (European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice) or MONEYVAL (Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism). 44 Such as T-SG (Governmental Committee of the European Social Charter) or T-CY (Convention Committee on Cybercrime). 45 Convention on the elaboration of a European Pharmacopoeia. 46 Such as Co-operation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Drugs (Pompidou Group) or European Audiovisual Observatory. 47 European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission). 48 CM/Del/Dec(2019)1351bis/10.1, adopted at its 1351bis meeting on 10 July 2019. 49 At this stage, the EU observer status in GRECO was welcomed in a joint statement by the First Vice-President of the Commission, Mr Frans Timmermans, and the SG of the CoE, Mr Thorbjørn Jagland. They stressed that the EU’s engagement in GRECO “ reinforces our joint efforts to strengthen the rule of law and fight against corruption across Europe ”. 50 Since2014,theCMannualreportsoncooperationbetweentheCoEandtheEUrefertothe“StrategicPartnership“, developed through political dialogue, cooperation projects and legal cooperation. For a comprehensive overview of the co-operation, see “ Co-operation between the Council of Europe and the European Union ”, document DER/ Inf (2018) 2 of 31 May 2018, accessible at: https://rm.coe.int/der-inf-2018-2-overview-of-coe-eu-cooperation- mechanisms/16808e4706.

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