An analysis of the report shows that the European Commission consistently applies an expansive and functional interpretation of the Convention and its own powers.
- The European Commission has prepared a report on the implementation of the Istanbul Convention in the European Union.
- The European Commission considers gender equality strategies, directives, roadmaps, and social campaigns as ways to implement the Istanbul Convention on combating violence against women—even though the Convention has been adopted by the EU only partially.
- The EU directive on combating violence against women was presented as a document that implements the most provisions of the Convention.
- In the European Commission’s assessment, combating violence against women in the EU is expected to require changes in attitudes, stereotypes, and cultural structures.
Introduction
The European Union Baseline Report (“Baseline Report by the European Union on measures giving effect to the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence”) was prepared by the European Commission and submitted in response to the procedure for monitoring the implementation of the provisions of the Istanbul Convention conducted by the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO), established within the Council of Europe.
This procedure was launched on January 14, 2025, when GREVIO sent the European Union a specially tailored questionnaire assessing the EU’s actions in implementing the provisions of the Istanbul Convention. The questionnaire comprises seven parts, corresponding to Chapters I–VII of the Convention, and is intended to cover only those areas in which the EU has competence to take legislative, policy, strategic or other action.
The report was submitted to GREVIO on November 24, 2025, and contains the Union’s responses to questions concerning legal measures and other actions taken to implement the provisions of the Istanbul Convention within the EU’s competences. Its preparation was coordinated by the European Commission with the participation of EU institutions, agencies, and other bodies, which provided information in accordance with their respective competences and institutional autonomy. The document comprises over 100 pages and, structurally, corresponds to the areas set out in the GREVIO questionnaire, from the objectives and definitions of the Convention, through integrated policy directions, prevention, protection of victims, and substantive and procedural law, to migration and asylum.
In the report, one of the most frequently cited EU legal acts is the directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence (the so-called VAW Directive), which—according to the narrative presented—constitutes the main instrument for implementing a range of obligations arising from the Convention. The report also emphasizes that preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence is considered an important element of EU policy, embedded in the Union’s values of equality, non-discrimination, and respect for human rights, which is reflected, among other things, in references to the provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.
The purpose of this analysis is to assess the content of the EU Baseline Report with respect to how the European Commission describes the implementation of the individual provisions of the Istanbul Convention within the scope of the Union’s competences, with particular attention to the legal bases and methodological choices set out in the report, as well as in the context of the EU treaty framework.
The objectives of the Istanbul Convention are aligned with EU values
In the report, the European Commission seeks to demonstrate that the objectives and definitions set out in Chapter I of the Convention are being implemented within the framework of EU law and action.
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