On 6 October 2021, the Court of Justice delivered Opinion 1/19 concerning the European Union’s accession to the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention. Opinion 1/19 provides essential guidance for the law and practice of mixity and the EU’s external relations capacity in the absence of a common accord of all Member States. In addition, Opinion 1/19 gave rise to many fine, technical issues that are highly relevant to the law of EU external relations.

The aim of this workshop is to explore the variety of legal themes raised by Opinion 1/19, as well as the broader consequences of the Opinion for the EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention. In doing so, the workshop seeks to assess the impact of Opinion 1/19 on the law and practice of EU external relations, and to highlight some of the remaining questions and problems that may impact the EU’s and/or the Member States’ future action on the international scene.

The workshop will take place in a hybrid format. You can either join at the University of Groningen or online. For either option, please register HERE.

Programme:

13:00 Walk-in
13:15 Gesa Kübek & Ramses A. Wessel (University of Groningen): Welcome and

short introduction

13:30 Panel 1: External coordination, cooperation and pre-emption Chair: Yuliya Kaspiarovich (University of Groningen)

• Christina Eckes (University of Amsterdam): Titel tbc
• Anne Thies (University of Reading): Titel tbc
• Merijn Chamon (Maastricht University): Opinion 1/19, Protocol 21, and the ERTA doctrine
• Cécile Rapoport & Isabelle Bosse-Platière (Université de Rennes 1): Opinion 1/19 from a sincere cooperation perspective

15:00 Coffee break

15:30 Panel 2: Common accord and mixity
Chair: Ramses A. Wessel (University of Groningen)

• Panos Koutrakos (City University London): Titel tbc
• Joni Heliskoski (Supreme Administrative Court of Finland): The practice of common accord and facultative mixity
• Andrea Ott (Maastricht University): Illegal common accords – a Pyrrhus victory of the EP
• Gesa Kübek (University of Groningen): Opinion 1/19 and incomplete mixity

17:00 Ramses A. Wessel (University of Groningen): Concluding remarks 18:00 Conference dinner