EU prepares to join Istanbul Convention

The General Affairs Council on February 21 voted by qualified majority on the EU's accession to the Istanbul Convention and requested the consent of the European Parliament to adopt the decisions on the conclusion by the EU of the convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul convention).

Bulgaria and several other countries said in a statement that they did not support the EU's accession to the Istanbul Convention.

At its latest plenary session, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the Council to ensure rapid and full accession to the Istanbul Convention without further delay.

The decision on the final accession of the EU to the Istanbul Convention will be taken by the Council by qualified majority. The vote is likely to take place in June 2023, after the European Parliament's approval.

In 2018, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria adopted a decision stating that the Istanbul Convention advocates legal concepts related to the concept of ‘gender’ that are incompatible with the basic principles of the country’s Constitution and Bulgaria did not support accession to the Istanbul Convention.