Adjudicating Europe

It appears that the Council’s mandate to the Commission concerning the EU’s accession to the European Convention of Human Rights will very soon be agreed. Many interesting issues lie ahead, and they are all of the utmost importance for EU Law and for all lawyers interested in fundamental rights.

The way in which the Union will accede to the Convention is a mystery. Will the ECJ be subject to the ECHR’s jurisdiction? How is the Union to defend itself when EU cases reach Strasbourg as a result of a national procedures? Will Foto-Frost have to be reconsidered? Will there be a “Union judge” in Strasbourg? Will there be an Opinion from the ECJ on the compatibility of the final agreement with the Treaties, and will the Court be able to meet expectations? And what on earth will happen to the Bosphorous case-law, as Cartesio this week rightly pointed out in his post?

The mandate will give many answers.

So we all shall wait a few more days, and then we can start the debate. In the meantime, let’s sit back and start warming up the engines.