THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 78(2), Article 82(2) and Article 84, in conjunction with Article 218(9), thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
(1) The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the ‘Convention’) was concluded by the Union by means of Council Decision (EU) 2023/1075(1)with regard to institutions and public administration of the Union, and by means of Council Decision (EU) 2023/1076(2)with regard to matters related to judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement, insofar as such matters fall within the exclusive competence of the Union. The Convention entered into force for the Union on 1 October 2023.
(2) Pursuant to Article 66(1) of the Convention, the Group of experts on action against violence against women and domestic violence (‘GREVIO’) is to monitor the implementation of the Convention by the Parties to the Convention (the ‘Parties’). In accordance with Article 68(11) of the Convention, GREVIO is to adopt its report and conclusions concerning the measures taken by the Party concerned to implement the provisions of the Convention.
(3) The Committee of the Parties (the ‘Committee’) is able to adopt recommendations addressed to the Party concerned, in accordance with Article 68(12) of the Convention, on the basis of the report and conclusions of GREVIO. Such recommendations are to differentiate between measures to be taken as soon as possible, with a requirement to report back to the Committee within a three-year period, and measures which, while important, do not carry the same level of immediacy. At the end of that three-year period, the Party concerned is to report back to the Committee on the measures taken, within 10 specific areas of the Convention. On the basis of that report, and any additional information, the Committee is to adopt conclusions on the implementation of those recommendations, prepared by the secretariat of the Committee.
(4) Pursuant to Article 68(3) of the Convention, the evaluation procedures following GREVIO’s initial baseline evaluation procedure are to be divided into rounds (the ‘thematic evaluation rounds’). The first thematic evaluation round is entitled ‘Building Trust by Delivering Support, Protection and Justice’ and addresses 20 articles of the Convention, namely Articles 3, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 25, 31, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53 and 56. At its 17th meeting on 17 December 2024, the Committee adopted a decision on the recommendations to be adopted by the Committee in light of GREVIO’s reports adopted as part of the first thematic evaluation round contained in document IC-CP(2024)10 rev.
(5) The Committee, during its 19th meeting on 11 December 2025, is expected to adopt the following draft recommendations (one based on the baseline evaluation round and seven based on the first thematic evaluation round) and draft conclusions, on the implementation of the Convention by nine of the Parties (respectively, the ‘draft recommendations’ and the ‘draft conclusions’, and jointly the ‘envisaged acts’):—Recommendation on the implementation of the Istanbul Convention by the United Kingdom, contained in document IC-CP(2025)22prov;—Recommendations on building trust by delivering support, protection and justice on the basis of the Istanbul Convention by Andorra, contained in document IC-CP(2025)23prov;—Recommendations on building trust by delivering support, protection and justice on the basis of the Istanbul Convention by Belgium, contained in document IC-CP(2025)24revprov;—Recommendations on building trust by delivering support, protection and justice on the basis of the Istanbul Convention by France, contained in document IC-CP(2025)25prov;—Recommendations on building trust by delivering support, protection and justice on the basis of the Istanbul Convention by Italy, contained in document IC-CP(2025)26prov;—Recommendations on building trust by delivering support, protection and justice on the basis of the Istanbul Convention by the Netherlands, contained in document IC-CP(2025)27prov;—Recommendations on building trust by delivering support, protection and justice on the basis of the Istanbul Convention by Portugal, contained in document IC-CP(2025)28prov;—Recommendations on building trust by delivering support, protection and justice on the basis of the Istanbul Convention by Serbia, contained in document IC-CP(2025)29prov; and—Conclusions on the implementation of recommendations in respect of Poland adopted by the Committee of the Parties, contained in document IC-CP(2025)30prov.
(6) The envisaged acts concern the implementation of provisions of the Convention relating to judicial cooperation in criminal matters, such as matters relating to the protection and support of victims of violence against women and domestic violence. The envisaged acts also concern the implementation of provisions of the Convention relating to asylum and non-refoulement. Those matters are covered by the Unionacquis, in particular Council Directive 2003/86/EC(3), Directives 2012/29/EU(4), (EU) 2024/1346(5)and (EU) 2024/1385(6)of the European Parliament and of the Council, and Regulation (EU) 2024/1348 of the European Parliament and of the Council(7). The envisaged acts will have legal effects, as they are capable of decisively influencing the content of Union law in that they could affect the interpretation of relevant provisions of the Convention in the future. It is therefore appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf within the Committee for matters related to judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement.
(7) It should be noted that the draft recommendations relating to certain articles of the Convention are only partly covered by the Union’s competence. As regards those articles, this Decision should be without prejudice to Member States’ competence, so that, for example: as regards the draft recommendations on Articles 49 and 50 of the Convention, this Decision should be without prejudice to Member States’ competence for the internal organisation and administration of their justice systems; as regards the draft recommendations on Articles 11 and 20 of the Convention, this Decision should be without prejudice to Member States’ competence for the organisation and delivery of healthcare services and medical care; as regards the draft recommendations on Article 14 of the Convention, this Decision should be without prejudice to Member States’ competence for the content of teaching and the organisation of education systems; and as regards the draft recommendations on Article 31 of the Convention, this Decision should be without prejudice to Member States’ competence in the area of family law.
(8) As regards the United Kingdom, the draft recommendation includes the need to: harmonise existing legal definitions in line with the Convention (Article 3 of the Convention); ensure that the provisions of the Convention are implemented without discrimination and integrate the perspectives and needs of women exposed to intersectional discrimination into policies (Article 4 of the Convention); ensure appropriate and sustainable financial resources for all policies aimed at combating violence against women and sustainable funding for relevant civil society organisations (Article 8 of the Convention); reinforce recognition of and support for civil society organisations (Article 9 of the Convention); equip the national coordinating bodies with the necessary mandate and competences and ensure the coordination and implementation of policies and measures to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women and ensure their independent monitoring and evaluation, supported by relevant data (Article 10 of the Convention); harmonise data-collection systems and ensure the systematic collection of disaggregated data on violence against women (Article 11 of the Convention); ensure training for relevant professionals on how to adequately respond to and investigate violence against women (Article 15 of the Convention); remove barriers to accessing general support services (Article 20 of the Convention); provide adequately staffed and resourced specialist support services to all victims, and increase the number and capacity of shelters for victims of violence against women and domestic violence (Articles 22 and 23 of the Convention); ensure that violence against a child can be regarded as an aggravated circumstance regardless of the relationship of the perpetrator to the child (Article 46 of the Convention); reduce secondary victimisation by ensuring persons investigating and prosecuting acts of violence against women have adequate expertise in those matters and ensure that cases are handled efficiently without delay (Article 50 of the Convention); ensure the introduction and implementation of emergency barring orders where needed (Article 52 of the Convention); and ensure access to adequate and safe accommodation for all women and girls during the asylum procedure and gender-sensitive standards in reception facilities (Article 60 of the Convention). As that draft recommendation is in line with the Union’s policies and objectives in the area of judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement and does not raise any concerns with respect to Union law, the position of the Union should be to not object to its adoption.
(9) As regards Andorra, the draft recommendations include the need to: develop a long-term comprehensive strategy to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women covered by the Convention; ensure that women’s rights organisations are fully involved in policymaking and to regularly assess those policies on the basis of detailed indicators (Article 7 of the Convention); ensure that women’s rights non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are granted sufficient subsidies and time to carry out activities entrusted to them (Article 8 of the Convention); continue to extend the collection of disaggregated data on all forms of violence covered by the Convention and ensure that full data are available on judicial decisions relating to violence against women and domestic violence (Article 11 of the Convention); extend prevention campaigns to all forms of violence covered by the Convention (Article 12 of the Convention); ensure sufficient human resources and adequate qualifications of professionals working on programmes for perpetrators, devise minimum standards and introduce a specific programme for perpetrators of sexual violence (Article 16 of the Convention); ensure that specialist support services meet victims’ needs and that migrant women, refugee women and women asylum seekers have full access to those services (Articles 22 and 60 of the Convention); set up efforts to improve police operations by taking into account all the forms of violence against women covered by the Convention and raise the awareness of professionals concerned (Articles 49 and 50 of the Convention); take measures to guarantee that all stakeholders carry out risk assessments for all the forms of violence covered by the Convention and repeat that regularly (Article 51 of the Convention); ensure that emergency barring orders can be issued without delay where there is an immediate danger and establish a clear legal framework that guarantees the proper management of emergency barring orders (Article 52 of the Convention); and ensure that victims of all the forms of violence covered by the Convention can benefit from protection orders and that breaches are punished (Article 53 of the Convention). As those draft recommendations are in line with the Union’s policies and objectives in the area of judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement and do not raise any concerns with respect to Union law, the position of the Union should be to not object to their adoption.
(10) As regards Belgium, the draft recommendations include the need to: ensure greater consistency of policies and measures in relation to preventing and combating violence against women between the different levels of authorities in the country (Article 7 of the Convention); ensure that collected data are disaggregated and harmonise data collection (Article 11 of the Convention); ensure to impart knowledge on the notion of freely given consent in sexual relations (Article 14 of the Convention); introduce initial and in-service training for all levels of law-enforcement officials and all relevant healthcare professionals, and adopt and disseminate quality standards for training courses (Article 15 of the Convention); step up the support for the recovery and economic independence of women victims of violence through relevant measures and implement standardised care paths in the healthcare sector to ensure the identification of victims and their referral to appropriate specialist support services (Article 20 of the Convention); increase the number and capacity of women-only shelters and ensure that fees are not a barrier in accessing shelters, and set up a state-wide helpline that serves as a single point of contact for all victims (Article 22 of the Convention); ensure that supervised visitation facilities provide for the safety of children and their mothers and avoid secondary victimisation (Article 31 of the Convention); ensure that the prosecution prioritises those cases and applies a gender-based and victim-centred understanding of violence against women, ensure that effective safeguards are in place to prevent the inappropriate use of mediation and take measures to avoid disparities in the judicial response to all cases of violence against women (Articles 49 and 50 of the Convention); remove obstacles to the use of emergency barring, protection and restraining orders, ensure that such orders are available and accessible to all victims and that they can be applied for independently of other procedures (Articles 52 and 53 of the Convention); and evaluate the implementation of existing protection measures and ensure that all measures in place are implemented in practice for victims of all forms of violence covered by the Convention (Article 56 of the Convention). As those draft recommendations are in line with the Union’s policies and objectives in the area of judicial cooperation in criminal matters and do not raise any concerns with respect to Union law, the position of the Union should be to not object to their adoption.
(11) As regards France, the draft recommendations include the need to: develop a long-term overarching strategy to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women covered by the Convention, ensure that adequate resources are allocated to the body coordinating the policies to prevent and combat violence against women; ensure that women’s rights associations are fully involved in policymaking and regularly assess those policies on the basis of predefined indicators (Articles 3 and 7 of the Convention); continue efforts to ensure adequate funding for policies to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women and ensure women’s rights organisations have sufficient and stable financial resources to carry out their work (Article 8 of the Convention); ensure that data collected by the judicial services are disaggregated (Article 11 of the Convention); improve efforts and assess the impact of measures in primary prevention (Article 12 of the Convention); ensure that all professionals in contact with victims and perpetrators receive training regarding all forms of violence against women and that such training is assessed (Article 15 of the Convention); adopt and implement minimum standards for programmes for perpetrators of violence and assess their impact (Article 16 of the Convention); ensure that coordination bodies are set up across the country and that the new one-stop-shop facilities set up to provide support for women victims involve all the bodies concerned (Article 18 of the Convention); ensure that all women victims of violence have access to a forensic examination and the possibility of preserving evidence and take further measures to prevent and combat violence against women with disabilities (Article 20 of the Convention); ensure that specialist support is available across the country, including for women victims of violence and their children residing in shelters, and ensure that such services respond to the digital dimension of violence against women (Article 22 of the Convention); provide victims of sexual violence with medical care, trauma support, forensic examinations and psychological assistance (Article 25 of the Convention); ensure the safety of victims and their children when deciding on custody and visitation rights by broadening the application of measures to strengthen cooperation between civil and criminal courts and ensure that there are enough facilities for supervised visits (Article 31 of the Convention); strengthen the measures taken to encourage women victims of all forms of violence covered by the Convention to report such violence and ensure appropriate reception and support services; take measures to ensure that more sexual violence cases reach the prosecution stage and continue efforts to ensure a proper judicial response to all forms of violence against women (Articles 49 and 50 of the Convention); ensure that risk assessments are conducted systematically in all cases of violence against women (Article 51 of the Convention); make increased use of protection orders and ensure that breaches are punished (Article 53 of the Convention); and limit the secondary victimisation to which women victims of violence can be exposed during proceedings (Article 56 of the Convention). As those draft recommendations are in line with the Union’s policies and objectives in the area of judicial cooperation in criminal matters and do not raise any concerns with respect to Union law, the position of the Union should be to not object to their adoption.
(12) As regards Italy, the draft recommendations include the need to: introduce definitions of domestic violence and violence against women that are in line with Article 3 of the Convention in order to ensure a common use of those concepts (Article 3 of the Convention), ensure that the national action plan on violence against women addresses all forms of violence against women and is supported by a timeline, financial resources and indicators to measure progress; ensure effective consultation with civil society and better coordinate the implementation of the relevant policies (Article 7 of the Convention); ensure sustainable and long-term funding for all the policies and measures to prevent and combat violence against women, and provide shelters with sufficient and sustainable funding (Article 8 of the Convention); ensure the collection and disaggregation of data by all relevant stakeholders and harmonise the collection of data (Article 11 of the Convention); ensure the teaching of the notion of freely given consent in sexual relations (Article 14 of the Convention); introduce initial and in-service training for all relevant professionals on all forms of violence against women (Article 15 of the Convention); increase the number and capacity of shelters in an adequate geographical distribution and ensure accommodation for all victims, ensure that victims of female genital mutilation have access to helpline support, and ensure that psychological counselling to children exposed to domestic violence or other forms of violence against women is not subject to the approval of both parents (Articles 22, 23, 24 and 26 of the Convention); provide safe premises for supervised visits with the support of professionals trained in domestic violence (Article 31); ensure that restorative justice services in cases of offences under the scope of the Convention are used with caution, and are based on the victim’s free and informed consent (Article 48 of the Convention); ensure timely and adequate responses from law enforcement agencies to reports relating to all forms of violence against women, and effective investigation and prosecution in such cases (Articles 49 and 50 of the Convention); ensure systematic risk assessments for victims of all forms of violence against women that are grounded in manuals and guidelines and address the need to include children and their individual risks in the assessment (Article 51 of the Convention); and ensure that emergency barring orders are issued in practice when needed, monitor orders and react in cases of breach and include children in the scope of the emergency barring and restraining orders (Articles 52 and 53 of the Convention). As those draft recommendations are in line with the Union’s policies and objectives in the area of judicial cooperation in criminal matters and do not raise any concerns with respect to Union law, the position of the Union should be to not object to their adoption.
(13) As regards Netherlands, the draft recommendations include the need to: ensure that definitions in policy documents reflect the fact that domestic violence affects women disproportionately and to align the definitions in legislation with Article 3, point (b), of the Convention (Article 3 of the Convention); ensure that policies and measures taken in relation to preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence are coordinated and that they cover all forms of violence against women covered by the Convention, assign the role of coordinating body to fully institutionalised entities with clear mandates, competences and necessary resources and ensure the involvement of NGOs in policymaking (Article 7 of the Convention); introduce appropriate and sustainable funding for policies and measures on all forms of violence against women and domestic violence and ensure appropriate and sustainable funding for women’s rights organisations (Article 8 of the Convention); adapt data categories for use by the justice sector and law enforcement agencies and ensure disaggregation (Article 11 of the Convention); step up the training of all professionals dealing with victims of violence against women on all forms of violence covered by the Convention while drawing on the expertise of women’s rights organisations (Article 15 of the Convention); step up efforts to increase the number of and capacity of shelters and their ability to cater to the needs of women subject to intersectional discrimination (Article 22 of the Convention); ensure effective investigation and prosecution in cases of violence against women covered by the Convention and take measures to encourage women victims to report, including women at risk of intersectional discrimination (Articles 49 and 50 of the Convention); take measures to ensure gender-sensitive risk assessments in cases of domestic violence and other forms of violence against women as part of a multiagency response (Article 51 of the Convention); and review and expand the system of restraining and emergency barring orders in line with the Convention, to ensure that relevant authorities can issue such orders immediately in cases of imminent danger (Article 52 of the Convention). As those draft recommendations are in line with the Union’s policies and objectives in the area of judicial cooperation in criminal matters and do not raise any concerns with respect to Union law, the position of the Union should be to not object to their adoption.
(14) As regards Portugal, the draft recommendations include the need to: ensure appropriate financial resources for the implementation of national strategies and action plans, and sustainable funding for women’s rights organisations (Article 8 of the Convention); ensure initial and in-service training for members of the judiciary on all forms of violence against women covered by the Convention and ensure that all relevant professionals receive continuous training regarding violence against women (Article 15 of the Convention); ensure that programmes for perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence are sufficiently available, adopt minimum standards and are evaluated (Article 16 of the Convention); develop a multiagency coordinated response to all forms of violence against women (Article 18 of the Convention); set up a helpline for women victims of different forms of violence, increase the number and capacity of women-only shelters for victims of all forms of violence against women and ensure the availability of specialist support services and remove the requirement for women victims to report a crime in order to gain access to a shelter (Article 22 of the Convention); prioritise the safety and respect of the rights of women victims and their children in the implementation of supervised visitation (Article 31 of the Convention); ensure a swift and gender-sensitive response by law enforcement officers in all cases of violence against women, including in their digital dimension; ensure that cases are investigated effectively (Articles 49 and 50 of the Convention); align the system of emergency barring orders and the system of protection and restraining orders with the Convention; and ensure that the scope and duration of protection orders are determined on a case-by-case basis, that the monitoring of protection orders is strengthened and that breaches of such orders are subject to dissuasive sanctions (Articles 52 and 53 of the Convention). As those draft recommendations are in line with the Union’s policies and objectives in the area of judicial cooperation in criminal matters and do not raise any concerns with respect to Union law, the position of the Union should be to not object to their adoption.
(15) As regards Serbia, the draft recommendations include the need to: harmonise the definition of domestic violence across laws in line with the Convention, ensure the effective implementation and monitoring of the national strategy, and allocate sufficient resources to the competent body or bodies responsible for the coordination, implementation, monitoring and independent evaluation of policies and measures addressing all forms of violence against women (Articles 3 and 7 of the Convention); ensure appropriate and sustainable financial resources for legislation, policies and measures to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence and guarantee sustainable funding for women’s organisations providing specialist support for victims (Article 8 of the Convention); ensure that collected data are disaggregated by relevant factors and harmonise data collection (Article 11 of the Convention); ensure regular preventive measures to eradicate gender stereotypes, promote awareness-raising campaigns that address all forms of violence against women, including the digital dimension, targeting society as a whole (Article 12 of the Convention); ensure systematic initial and in-service training for all relevant professionals (Article 15 of the Convention); expand and provide adequate resources for domestic violence perpetrator programmes and adopt common standards (Article 16 of the Convention); improve victims’ access to financial support, housing and employment and ensure free forensic examinations (Article 20 of the Convention); increase the number of shelter places to ensure safe accommodation for all victims, including those facing intersectional discrimination (Article 22 of the Convention); ensure rape crisis or sexual violence referral centres across the country, available independent of the victim’s willingness to report the crime (Article 25 of the Convention); encourage the reporting of all forms of violence against women, raising law enforcement authorities’ awareness to ensure gender-sensitive responses, strengthen evidence collection and take measures to ensure efficient case handling (Articles 49 and 50 of the Convention); ensure training and guidance for police officers on risk assessments and involve all relevant institutions in the assessment (Article 51 of the Convention); improve the monitoring and compliance with emergency and extended protective measures, including through electronic monitoring; ensure consistency in the process and systematically include children in both emergency protective measures and long-term protection orders (Articles 52 and 53 of the Convention); and ensure the effective implementation of all victim protection measures throughout investigations and judicial proceedings and safeguard victims from intimidation, reprisals and re-victimisation by upholding their right to be properly informed when orders are issued or perpetrators released or escape (Article 56 of the Convention). As those draft recommendations are in line with the Union’s policies and objectives in the area of judicial cooperation in criminal matters and do not raise any concerns with respect to Union law, the position of the Union should be to not object to their adoption.
(16) As regards Poland, the draft conclusions include the need to: ensure that the provisions of the Convention are implemented without discrimination and to address the multiple forms of discrimination certain groups of victims face when accessing protection and support (Article 4 of the Convention); develop nationwide, comprehensive and coordinated policies to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women covered by the Convention, strengthen interinstitutional cooperation mechanisms between authorities to ensure victims’ access to support and protection mechanisms (Article 7 of the Convention); increase financial resources to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women, provide funding for NGOs, and ensure their participation in the implementation and monitoring of all relevant policies (Article 8 of the Convention); allocate the necessary human and financial resources to the coordinating body for the Convention and ensure the involvement of women’s rights organisations (Articles 9 and 10 of the Convention); ensure the collection of disaggregated data and harmonise data collection between relevant services (Article 11 of the Convention); ensure that emergency barring, restraining and protection orders can be issued for all forms of violence under the Convention and ensure sanctions in cases of breach (Articles 52 and 53 of the Convention); and ensure swift access to asylum procedures for women asylum seekers, ensure gender-sensitive procedures and uphold the principle of non-refoulement (Articles 60 and 61 of the Convention). As those draft conclusions are in line with the Union’s policies and objectives in the area of judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement and do not raise any concerns with respect to Union law, the position of the Union should be to not object to their adoption.
(17) In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of Protocol No 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice, annexed to the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and without prejudice to Article 4 of that Protocol, Ireland is not taking part in the adoption of this Decision and is not bound by it or subject to its application.
(18) In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of Protocol No 22 on the position of Denmark, annexed to the TEU and to the TFEU, Denmark is not taking part in the adoption of this Decision and is not bound by it or subject to its application,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: