Accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights

Paul Gragl is a Lecturer in Law at Queen Mary, University of London.

...the author deserves congratulations for his book not only because of its timeliness but also because of its rigorous analysis of all the critical legal issues associated with the EU's accession to the ECHR. The book will prove to be most valuable for everyone trying to understand the background to the accession agreement, in particular why the mechanisms agreed upon are so complex and do not always appear straightforward. Hence this book provides an indispensible source for any researcher on EU-ECHR relations.

• PART I: INTRODUCTION—A TALE OF TWO COURTS 1. Setting the Scene for Accession I. The EU and the European Convention on Human Rights II. Accession and Autonomy: The Research Question of this BookIII. A Caveat on Legal Definitions 2. Scope of this Book I. A Survey of the Status Quo II. The Shape of Things to Come III. Conclusions and Outlook PART II: THE AUTONOMY OF EUROPEAN UNION LAW VERSUS INTERNATIONAL LAW AND COURTS 3. The Notion of Legal Autonomy I. The Legal Framework: The CJEU's Exclusive Jurisdiction II. Accession and Autonomy: Justifi ed Concerns or Much Ado about Nothing? III. The Union's Legal Autonomy and International Law 4. The EU and International Courts and Tribunals I. European Union Law at Risk: The CJEU and the EEA Court II. Competing Jurisdictions: The MOX Plant Case III. Legal Analysis 5. A Special Case: The Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights I. The Convention and the EU: A View from Luxembourg II. Violations of the Convention by EU Law: The Strasbourg Perspective III. Opinion 2/94: Obsolete Concerns or Autonomy at Risk? 6. The EU, International Law and International Courts: An Anticipating Assessment for Accession I. Lessons of the Past II. Questions for the Future PART III: THE ROAD FROM LUXEMBOURG TO STRASBOURG: RECONCILING ACCESSION AND AUTONOMY 7. The Status of the Accession Agreement and the Convention after Accession I. The Legal Basis: Article 218 TFEU and the Court of Justice II. The Need for an Accession Agreement III. The Status of the Convention and the Agreement in EU Law IV. Interim Conclusions 8. External Review by Strasbourg: A Hierarchy of Courts? I. External Review vs Autonomy: The Legal Issue Situated II. A Binding Interpretation of Union Law by Strasbourg? III. European Union Law in Violation of the Convention IV. Interim Conclusions 9. Individual Applications after Accession: Introducing the Co-Respondent Mechanism I. Individual Applications: Core of the Convention II. Identifying the Right Respondent after Accession III. Interim Conclusions 10. Inter-Party Cases after Accession I. Inter-State Cases: A Reminiscence of Westphalia II. The Internal Dimension: Luxembourg versus Strasbourg III. The External Dimension: The European Union as a Human Rights Litigator in Europe? IV. Interim Conclusions 11. The Exhaustion of Domestic Remedies and the Prior Involvement of the Luxembourg Court I. The 'Exhaustion Rule' after Accession II. Direct and Indirect Actions III. The Solution of the Draft Accession Agreement IV. Interim Conclusions PART IV: CONCLUSIONS AND OUTLOOK 12. The Analytical Point of Departure: Revisiting and Answering the Research Question 13. The Prerequisites and Consequences of Accession: A Summary of Findings I. The Importance of the Autonomy Principle II. Legal Interfaces between Accession and Autonomy14. Outlook and Future Perspectives