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Table of Contents: I. Introduction. – II. Trust and distrust: Delineations and reflections on the protagonists of the EU accession saga. – III. Opinion 2/13 and its aftermath: The politics of distrust. – IV. The mirage of trust: The ECtHR and the draft accession instruments. – V. The road ahead: (Re-)building trust post-accession. – VI. Conclusion.
Abstract: The EU accession to the ECHR has been a complex and at times politically charged topic. Questions of trust and distrust between the two protagonists, namely the supranational courts that will be called upon to cooperate for the enhancement of human rights protection in Europe (but also more generally between the Union and its Member States), were extremely important for the successful conclusion of this second round of negotiations. Nevertheless, the obsession of control that underpins the CJEU’s Opinion 2/13 and many of the EU proposals in the renewed negotiation do not bode well for the establishment and furtherance of trust between the two institutions. Additionally, the ECtHR is called upon to show blind trust to the EU and its Court under the revised Draft Accession Agreement. Ultimately, trust will be (re)built only if the CJEU and the ECtHR adopt a constructive attitude by, respectively, following due process/rule of law guarantees or showcasing jurisprudential consistency and accommodating mutual trust.
Keywords: EU accession to the ECHR – trust – distrust – Draft Accession Agreement – Court of Justice of the European Union – European Court of Human Rights.
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European Papers, Vol. 9, 2024, No 2, pp. 801-817
ISSN 2499-8249 - doi: 10.15166/2499-8249/784
*Assistant Professor, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, vpergantis@law.auth.gr.
