ACCESSION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

V diplomskem delu je obravnavano vprašanje pristopa Evropske unije (v nadaljevanju EU) k Evropski konvenciji za človekove pravice (v nadaljevanju EKČP), katerega temelj predstavlja 6. člen Pogodbe o Evropski uniji (v nadaljevanju PEU). Lizbonska pogodba, ki spreminja Pogodbo o Evropski uniji in Pogodbo o ustanovitvi Evropske skupnosti (v nadaljevanju Lizbonska pogodba), je EU podelila pravno osebnost in dodelila obveznost pristopa EU k EKČP. Lizbonska pogodba, ki je v veljavo vstopila 1. decembra 2009, tako predpostavlja, da bo EU pristopila k EKČP. Tu se pojavlja pomembno vprašanje, kako bi priključitev EU k EKČP vplivala na varstvo človekovih pravic v EU in na delovanje njenih institutucij. Do zdaj EU ni bila podpisnica EKČP, ampak so to bile vse njene članice, saj pristop k EKČP predstavlja enega izmed temeljnih pogojev za članstvo. 14. oktober 2011 je prinesel nekaj pomembnih premikov na tem področju. Po skoraj treh letih pogajanj je med komisijo predstavnikov EU in Sveta Evrope prišlo do uspešno sklenjenega sporazuma o pristopu EU k EKČP. Ne glede na to, da bi sam pristop pripomogel k učinkovitejšemu varstvu človekovih pravic na območju EU, pa sporazum po uspešnem zaključku pogajanj ne prinaša nemotenega in enostavnega pristopa, saj se pojavljajo številne procesne, institucionalne ter vsebinske ovire, ki imajo pomemben vpliv na morebiten uspešen ter dokončen pristop. Omeniti velja nasprotovanje držav podpisnic EKČP, ki niso članice EU, saj bi v tem primeru imele EU in njene članice glas več v uresničevanju njihovih interesov. Velikega pomena je tudi odnos med Sodiščem EU in Evropskim sodiščem za človekove pravice (v nadaljevanju ESČP). Čeprav se vse od zgodnjih devetdesetih let Sodišče EU sklicuje na določbe in sodno prakso ESČP, brez formalnega pristopa EU k EKČP Sodišče EU nima pristojnosti, da uporabi določbe EKČP, a Sodišče EU daje EKČP vseeno poseben pomen in jo uporablja kot vodilo v njegovi sodni praksi. Nedvomno bi pristop EU k EKČP prinesel pomembne spremembe na področju varstva človekovih pravic, ki so se znašle v precejšnjih težavah, hkrati pa bi poskrbel za harmonizacijo med EU in Svetom Evrope. Kljub vsemu je sam pristop še zelo daleč od gotovega dejstva.In the thesis we discuss the question of the accession of the EU to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms the basis of which is Article 6 of the Treaty of European Union. This article grants the EU its legal personality and decides on the accession. The Lisbon treaty that entered into force on December 2nd 2009 assumes that EU will accede to the ECHR. Here we deal with an important question of how would the accession affect the protection of human rights in the EU and the funcioning of its institutions. While all EU Member States are signatories of the Convention the EU itself is not. The 14th of October 2011 brought some important changes on this topic. After almost three years of negotiations between representatives of the EU Commission and the Council of Europe an agreement was reached on the accession of EU to the ECHR. Even though the agreement would contribute to more effective protection of human rights in the EU, the agreement alone does not mean that the accession will be undisturbed and easy as there are a lot of procedural, institutional and substantive issues left to be resolved. These issues have a significant impact on the potential success of the agreement. It is worth noting the objections of other countries that are signatories to the Convention but are not Member States of the EU because in the case of accession the Member States and EU would together have an additional vote when deciding on the realization of its interests. Of paramount importance is also the relationship between the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Even though that since the early nineties the CJEU relied on case law of ECtHR in the absence of formal accession of the EU to ECHR, the CJEU does not have the jurisdiction to apply the provisions of the ECHR but it gives the ECHR a special significance as a guiding principle in its case law. There is no doubt that the accession of EU to the ECHR would bring significant changes to the field of human rights that in current time find themselves in a very difficult position. The accession would also take care of harmonization between the EU and the Council of Europe but nevertheless like it was already said the accession agreement is still a very long way from being a fact of certainty