EU Baseline Report: The Istanbul Convention as a Pretext for Expanding the Union’s Competences

Introduction

The European Union Baseline Report (“Baseline Report by the European Union on measures giving effect to the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence”¹) was prepared by the European Commission and submitted in response to the procedure for monitoring the implementation of the provisions of the Istanbul Convention conducted by the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO), established within the Council of Europe.

This procedure was launched on January 14, 2025, when GREVIO sent the European Union a specially tailored questionnaire assessing the EU’s actions in implementing the provisions of the Istanbul Convention.² The questionnaire comprises seven parts, corresponding to Chapters I–VII of the Convention, and is intended to cover only those areas in which the EU has competence to take legislative, policy, strategic or other action.³

The report was submitted to GREVIO on November 24, 2025, and contains the Union’s responses to questions concerning legal measures and other actions taken to implement the provisions of the Istanbul Convention within the EU’s competences. Its preparation was coordinated by the European Commission with the participation of EU institutions, agencies, and other bodies, which provided information in accordance with their respective competences and institutional autonomy. The document comprises over 100 pages and, structurally, corresponds to the areas set out in the GREVIO questionnaire, from the objectives and definitions of the Convention, through integrated policy directions, prevention, protection of victims, and substantive and procedural law, to migration and asylum.

In the report, one of the most frequently cited EU legal acts is the directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence (the so-called VAW Directive⁴), which—according to the narrative presented—constitutes the main instrument for implementing a range of obligations arising from the Convention. The report also emphasizes that preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence is considered an important element of EU policy, embedded in the Union’s values of equality, non-discrimination, and respect for human rights, which is reflected, among other things, in references to the provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union⁵ and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU⁶.

The purpose of this analysis is to assess the content of the EU Baseline Report with respect to how the European Commission describes the implementation of the individual provisions of the Istanbul Convention within the scope of the Union’s competences, with particular attention to the legal bases and methodological choices set out in the report, as well as in the context of the EU treaty framework.

The objectives of the Istanbul Convention are aligned with EU values

In the report, the European Commission seeks to demonstrate that the objectives and definitions set out in Chapter I of the Convention are being implemented within the framework of EU law and action. In particular, the European Commission indicates that its approach reflects the priority that the Union attaches to combating violence against women and domestic violence and to promoting gender equality, as elements of the EU’s constitutional values (with reference to the provisions of Articles 2 and 3 of the Treaty on European Union and Article 8 TFEU), which are also enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.⁷ The report’s key findings in this area can be summarized in three main points.

The Commission stresses that combating violence against women and domestic violence is part of implementing the EU’s fundamental values, in particular equality, non-discrimination, and respect for human dignity, as enshrined both in the Treaty on European Union and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The report cites these values as justification for the EU’s actions regarding the issues covered by the Convention, acknowledging that they are consistent with the “objectives” of the Istanbul Convention⁸.

The report states that the concept of “violence against women” contained in the directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence (the so-called VAW Directive), covers all acts of violence causing or likely to cause physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering, regardless of whether they occur in public or private life⁹. This interpretation is, in essence, an adaptation of the definition of “gender-based violence” from Article 3 of the Istanbul Convention (including point (c) of that article, which introduces the concept of gender as a social and cultural construct¹⁰), while the Commission directly links it to the legal constructs of the EU directive.¹¹

The report also cites excerpts from the VAW Directive, whose preamble (recital 10) states that “violence against women is a persisting manifestation of structural discrimination against women” and that “it is rooted in socially constructed roles, behaviour, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for women and men.”¹²

In practice, this means that the European Commission interprets violence against women not only as a set of individual criminal acts or human rights violations, but as a phenomenon rooted in the social system of gender roles, which also affects the scope of the proposed policy and legislative measures.

Forms of Implementation of the Convention

The European Commission notes that it is implementing the provisions of the Istanbul Convention across many of its activities—strategic, programmatic, and institutional. The report highlighted policy strategies, action plans, Commission communications, and interinstitutional initiatives as equivalent means of implementing convention obligations.

The European Commission specifically points to the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025¹³, the document “Roadmap for women’s rights”¹⁴ as well as a number of horizontal initiatives as evidence of the existence of the “integrated approach” required by the Convention. In the report under review, however, these strategies are not treated as auxiliary or coordinating instruments, but as independent forms of “implementation” of the Convention, even though they are not normative in nature and do not directly create binding legal obligations. As a result, the European Commission assumes a quasi-implementing role, even though the Istanbul Convention has not been ratified by the European Union in full, and the primary responsibility for its implementation rests, by design, with the States Parties.

From the perspective of national legal frameworks, including Polish law, it should be emphasized that the coordination of policy directions in the field of combating violence, particularly in the areas of family, education, and social policy, can be most effectively implemented at the national level. In Poland, the implementation of these tasks is based on constitutional principles for the protection of the family¹⁵.

Social campaigns as a preventive measure

The European Commission equates the implementation of preventive obligations with conducting public-awareness campaigns, educational projects, training for professionals, and funding non-governmental organizations working on violence against women. The report does not distinguish between informational activities and initiatives that aim to promote a particular vision of social relations, gender roles, and cultural norms. Preventing violence is presented as a process that requires changing “social attitudes”, “stereotypes” and “cultural structures”, which aligns with the narrative consistently present throughout the document.¹⁶ These campaigns are to be implemented, among other things, through funding for non-governmental organizations, grant programs, and information campaigns.

Protection and support for victims of violence in the EU

With regard to Chapter IV of the Istanbul Convention, the European Commission presents the implementation of obligations concerning the protection and support of victims, primarily by referring to existing and proposed EU legal standards. The report focuses on the catalog of victims’ rights, procedural safeguards for protection, and access to support services, treating the mere existence of normative frameworks as sufficient evidence of compliance with convention obligations.¹⁷

At the heart of this narrative is the Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence,¹⁸ which the Commission consistently presents as an instrument for implementing a broad spectrum of the Convention’s provisions, notwithstanding the fact that — at the time the report was being drafted — this directive had not yet been applied in practice. The Commission does not analyze the effectiveness of existing protection mechanisms, nor does it address the actual functioning of support systems, which fall within the competence of the Member States.

The protection of victims is equated with the formal adoption of legal standards, without assessing their implementation, accessibility, or alignment with national social and family assistance systems.

Summary

The European Union Baseline Report prepared for the GREVIO procedure takes the form of a normative self-assessment, in which the European Commission presents EU law, strategies, and policy initiatives as means of implementing the obligations arising from the Istanbul Convention. The document does not concern the practice of the Member States, but serves to demonstrate that the European Union—within the scope of its declared competences—implements the provisions of the Convention. Although the European Union acceded to the Istanbul Convention only to a very limited extent—binding primarily its institutions—precisely because it lacks competence in many areas regulated by the Convention.

An analysis of the report shows that the European Commission consistently applies an expansive and functional interpretation of the Convention and of its own powers. Secondary legislation, strategic documents, financial programs, and actions of a soft law nature are treated collectively as “implementation” of convention obligations, even though not all fall within the scope of EU competences under the Treaties.

It is particularly evident that a structural and gender-based interpretation of violence against women has been adopted as the axiological basis for the interpretation of EU law. In areas falling within the competence of the Member States, such as the protection of victims or criminal law, the Commission limits itself to indicating EU normative standards, while omitting an analysis of the practical functioning of national systems. In the field of criminal and procedural law, this constitutes the most striking example of the tension between Convention obligations and the principle of conferral of competences in the EU.

From the perspective of the member states, including Poland, the European Commission’s baseline report confirms the need to exercise particular caution with regard to attempts at an expansive interpretation of the EU’s powers and the instrumental use of the Istanbul Convention to shape the direction of policy and law in areas that remain within the purview of national constitutional orders.

Julia Książek – analyst at the Ordo Iuris Center for International Law.

Read also:

• Istanbul Convention adopted by EU only in part, without provisions promoting gender ideology
• Most violence against women occurs in countries that have adopted the Istanbul Convention – latest EU report

1 European Commission, Baseline Report by the European Union on measures giving effect to the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, November 24, 2025, ref. ISC/2025/07693, https://rm.coe.int/baseline-report-by-the-european-union-on-measures-giving-effect-to-the/48802978de.

2 GREVIO, Baseline evaluation procedure in respect of the EU, January 14, 2025, https://www.coe.int/en/web/istanbul-convention/-/grevio-launches-its-baseline-evaluation-procedure-in-respect-of-the-eu.

3 Ibid.

4 Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) of 25 October 2012 establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime (Victims’ Rights Directive), as amended by Directive 2019/713/EU (VAW Directive – the directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence); available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/PL/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32012L0029.

5 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), Official Journal of the European Union C 202 of 7 June 2016, available online: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A12012E%2FTXT.

6 Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, OJ EU C 326 of 26 October 2012, available online: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A12012P%2FTXT.

7 European Commission, Baseline Report by the European Union on measures giving effect to the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, November 24, 2025, pp. 1–5 (introduction and A. Article 1 – Purposes of the Convention), ref. ISC/2025/07693, November 24, 2025, https://rm.coe.int/baseline-report-by-the-european-union-on-measures-giving-effect-to-the/48802978de.

8 Ibid., pp. 1–5 (references to EU values: equality, non-discrimination and fundamental rights).

9 Ibid.

10Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, concluded in Istanbul on May 11, 2011 (commonly known as the “Istanbul Convention”), OJ EU L 201, 7.6.2011, p. 1; Polish text: Dziennik Ustaw of 2015, item 961; Article 3 point (c) of the Convention: „gender is defined as the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for women and men” https://www.coe.int/en/web/gender-matters/council-of-europe-convention-on-preventing-and-combating-violence-against-women-and-domestic-violence#III.

11 European Commission, Baseline Report by the European Union on measures giving effect to the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, November 24, 2025, ref. ISC/2025/07693, B. Article 2 and Article 3 – Scope of the convention and definitions(page 7) https://rm.coe.int/baseline-report-by-the-european-union-on-measures-giving-effect-to-the/48802978de.

12 Ibidem, in particular p. 3 and pp. 7–9 (Article 2 and Article 3 – Scope and definitions; quotations of the definition of violence and recitals concerning “structural discrimination”).

13 European Commission, Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025, March 5, 2020,https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/gender-equality/gender-equality-strategy_en (accessed: December 19, 2025).

14Source: Ionel Zamfir, Roadmap for women’s rights, European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), PE 769.542, March 2025, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2025/769542/EPRS_BRI(2025)769542_EN.pdf (accessed: December 19, 2025).

15 Constitution of the Republic of Poland, Article 8(1), Article 18, Article 48(1), and Article 146(4)(7), https://www.sejm.gov.pl/prawo/konst/polski/kon1.htm.

16 European Commission, Baseline Report by the European Union on measures giving effect to the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, November 24, 2025, ref. ISC/2025/07693, III. Prevention – pp. 46–63; https://rm.coe.int/baseline-report-by-the-european-union-on-measures-giving-effect-to-the/48802978de.

17 Ibid., IV. Protection and support, pp. 65-80, https://rm.coe.int/baseline-report-by-the-european-union-on-measures-giving-effect-to-the/48802978de.

18 Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) on combating violence against women and domestic violence, of 14 May 2024, 2024/1385, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/1385/oj.