COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL, THE COUNCIL, THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, THE COURT OF AUDITORS, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF REGIONS AND THE EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK on the baseline evaluation procedure of the European Union's implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention)
Date: 2025-04-10
Institutions: Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, European Commission
Subjects: European Union, European convention, activity report, gender equality, help for victims, human rights, public administration, sexual discrimination, violence, women's rights

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 10.4.2025  COM(2025) 172 final  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL, THE COUNCIL, THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, THE COURT OF AUDITORS, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF REGIONS AND THE EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK on the baseline evaluation procedure of the European Union's implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention)        
 
 
I. 

Context and background 

Equality  between  men  and  women  and  non-discrimination  are  fundamental  rights  and  core 
values of the EU. Violence against women and domestic violence endanger those very values 
and rights, undermining women’s and girls’ rights to equality in all areas of life and hindering 
their  equal  societal  and  professional  participation.  Violence  against  women  and  domestic 
violence  are  severe  violations  of  human  rights  and  a  persisting  manifestation  of  structural 
discrimination against women. Combating them remains a key priority for the EU and is part 
of its action to  protect  the core  EU values  and ensure that the EU Charter on Fundamental 
Rights is upheld. 

The  Istanbul  Convention  (1)  establishes  a  comprehensive  framework  of  legal  and  policy 
measures  aimed  at  preventing  violence  against  women,  prosecuting  perpetrators,  and 
protecting and supporting victims. Parties to the Convention are required to implement a broad 
range  of  measures  structured  around  four  key  pillars  –  the  ‘4  Ps’:  prevention,  protection, 
prosecution and  coordinated policies. The Convention entered into force on 1 August 2014. 
The EU signed the Convention on 13 June 2017 and completed the accession process on 28 
June 2023, bringing the Convention into force for the EU on 1 October 2023. 

All  EU  Member  States  have  signed  the  Convention  and  22  have  ratified  it (2). The  EU  has 
acceded  to  the  Convention  with  regard  to  matters  related  to  the  institutions  and  public 
administration of the Union (3) and matters related to judicial cooperation in criminal matters, 
asylum and non-refoulement (4). This means that the Convention is only binding for the EU 
with  regard  to  those  matters  (without  prejudice  to  the  obligations  of  the  22  Member  States 
which  have  ratified  the  Convention).  By  acceding  to  the  Convention,  the  EU  confirmed  its 
engagement in combating violence against women and domestic violence within the EU and 
beyond. The EU, as a whole, is therefore bound to implement the Convention and to abide by 
the monitoring process  established by the Convention. At the time  of the EU’s accession, a 
Code of Conduct (5) was agreed between the Council, the Member States [that are parties to 
the Convention] and the Commission, and a Declaration of Competence was submitted (6).  

This  Communication  outlines  the  monitoring  process  set  out  by  the  Convention  and  the 
procedures that the Commission intends to put in place to comply with this process. Aiming to 
serve as a reference point throughout the process, it outlines the Commission’s role, details the 
steps involved along with the expected timeline, and describes how the Commission plans to 
engage with EU institutions, agencies and bodies to gather their input, in line with the principle 
of  sincere  cooperation  and  with  respect  for  the  administrative  autonomy  of  the  other  EU 

(1) CETS 210 - Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and 
domestic violence. 
(2) Status of ratifications on 27.03.2025: AT (2013); BE (2016); CY (2017); DE (2017); DK (2014); IE (2019); 
EL (2018); ES (2014); EE (2017) FI (2015); FR (2014); HR (2018); IT (2013); LU (2018); MT (2014); NL 
(2015); PL (2015); PT (2013); RO (2016); SI (2015); SV (2014), LV (2024).  
(3) Council Decision (EU) 2023/1075. 
(4) Council Decision (EU) 2023/1076. 
(5) 2023/C 194/03 of 2.6.2023, available online. 
(6) 2023/C 194/02 of 2.6.2023, available online. 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
institutions.  The  establishment  of  a  transparent,  inclusive  and  well-defined  procedure  will 
ensure that the EU provides comprehensive information within the timeline set. 

II.  Modalities and organisation of the baseline evaluation procedure of the EU’s 

implementation of the Convention  

The  Convention  sets  up  a  monitoring  mechanism  to  assess  how  its  provisions  are  put  into 
practice and to provide guidance to the parties. This mechanism comprises two distinct, but 
interacting,  bodies:  the  independent  Group  of  Experts  on Action  against  Violence  against 
Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) and the political body set up by the Convention, 
the Committee of the Parties (CoP).  

Shortly after the entry into force of the Convention, the Party should submit a report detailing 
legislative measures and other measures taken to give effect to the provisions of the Convention 
and prepared on the basis of a questionnaire issued by GREVIO. 

Based  on  the  report  submitted  by  the  Party  and  additional  information  from  other  relevant 
actors, GREVIO prepares a report that includes proposals for measures that the Party should 
take to fulfil its obligations under the Convention. This procedure, referred to as the baseline 
evaluation procedure, provides a first comprehensive overview of the Party’s implementation 
of nearly all provisions of the Convention. On the basis of this baseline evaluation, the CoP 
adopts  recommendations  addressed  to  the  Party.  These  highlight  the  actions  that  the  Party 
concerned should take as soon as possible, with a requirement to report back on the steps taken 
within  a  three  year-period.  GREVIO  initiated  its  baseline  evaluation  procedure  of  the  EU’s 
implementation of the Convention on 14 January 2025 (see Annex).  

Under Article 17(1) of the Treaty on European Union, the Commission exercises coordinating, 
executive and management functions in implementing international agreements to which the 
Union is a party and ensures the Union’s external representation. When the EU acceded to the 
Convention,  the  Commission  was  designated  as  the  EU’s  coordinating  body,  in  accordance 
with Article 10 of the Convention, and it was  agreed that the Commission should fulfil the 
reporting obligations under the monitoring  mechanism (7). The Commission is therefore the 
designated contact point within the EU for this baseline evaluation. 

a.  The GREVIO questionnaire 

The Commission  received  the GREVIO questionnaire on 14 January 2025. The EU is  now 
required to submit an official report of max. 100 pages on the legislative measures and other 
measures taken to give effect to the provisions in Chapters I to VII of the Convention by 28 
November 2025 (EU report). GREVIO adapted the standard baseline evaluation questionnaire 
for  the  EU  in  order  to  account  for  differences  between  state  parties  and  the  EU  as  a 
supranational organisation.  

(7) Article 3, Council Decision (EU) 2023/1075 and Council Decision (EU) 2023/1076. 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The questionnaire is structured into seven parts: (i) introduction; (ii) integrated policies and 
data  collection;  (iii)  prevention;  (iv)  protection  and  support;  (v)  substantive  law;  (vi) 
investigation, prosecution and procedural law and protective measures; and (vii) migration and 
asylum. Although questions are formulated in broad terms, requests for information are to be 
understood  as  pertaining  only  to  those  areas  where  the  EU  has  competence  to  act  through 
legislative  measures,  policy,  strategic  measures  or  other  measures  (see  the  Declaration  of 
Competence (8) for guidance). The evaluation will not address implementation of EU law by 
Member States9, which is covered by their own review processes. It focuses instead on action 
taken at the level of EU institutions, agencies and bodies and any legislative measures or other 
measures taken by the EU to place obligations on EU Member States and ensure their effective 
implementation. Unless otherwise indicated in the questionnaire, all requests for information 
and data apply since the entry into force of the Convention for the EU (1 October 2023). Any 
data requested by the questionnaire should refer to the period 2023-2024 and, where available, 
2025. The EU is nonetheless welcome to provide any relevant earlier information. Due to space 
constraints, the EU has been asked not to include lengthy excerpts from relevant legislation 
and policies, using hyperlinks instead where appropriate. 

The  Commission  has  been  tasked  with  distributing  the  questionnaire  to  the  relevant  EU 
institutions, agencies and bodies, coordinating their responses and submitting a consolidated 
version of the EU report to GREVIO by 28 November 2025. This process involves four steps: 

•  Step 1: The Commission will prepare a first draft of the report based on input from all 
relevant Directorates-General (DGs) within the Commission. The report will explain 
that the EU has established a comprehensive framework, including policies, legislation 
and funding, aiming to tackle violence against women and domestic violence within 
the EU and beyond. Before submitting its input, each DG will reach out to the relevant 
agencies  for  which  they  are  responsible  and  include  their  contribution  in  the  DG’s 
response to the questionnaire. 

•  Step  2:  The  Commission  will  pursue  a  double  track  procedure  to  incorporate 

contributions from other EU institutions, agencies and bodies: 

-  For the first track, the Commission will establish a dedicated contact group with 
representatives  from  all  EU  institutions  (the  Istanbul  Convention  Contact 
Group). The group will discuss general cross-cutting and procedural matters and 
will  focus  on  the  parts  of  the  questionnaire  that  fall  within  the  area  of  judicial 
cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement (10). The group will 
serve as the main point of contact for these issues.  

-  The second track will cover the EU’s implementation of the Convention as regards 
matters related to the institutions and public administration of the Union (11) (i.e.: 
in relation to the staff in its administration, the personnel directly or indirectly in its 

(8) 2023/C 194/02 of 2.6.2023, available online. 
(9) Only relevant for the 22 Member states who have ratified the Istanbul Convention. 
(10) Council Decision - 2023/1076 - EN - EUR-Lex. 
(11) Council Decision - 2023/1075 - EN - EUR-Lex. 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
employment and the visitors to its premises and buildings). Due to its horizontal 
nature,  it  is  expected  that  this  track  will  be  of  most  relevance  for  most  EU 
institutions, agencies and bodies. The Commission will establish a dedicated group 
with representatives from all relevant EU institutions, agencies and bodies that will 
coordinate and serve as the main point of contact for these parts of the questionnaire 
(the Public Administration Contact Group). 

The Chair of each respective group will share the Commission’s first draft of the EU 
report  with  their  group  and  request  that  the  representatives  in  the  respective  groups 
coordinate their internal responses and submit their contributions to the Chair within a 
given deadline.  

In this context, the first draft will cover horizontal rules, including rules applicable to 
EU institutions, agencies and bodies (such as the Staff Regulations of Officials of the 
European  Union  and  the  Conditions  of  Employment  of  Other  Servants).  For  areas 
where  EU  institutions,  agencies  and  bodies  have  implemented  different  rules  and 
measures, they should set out these rules in their response to the questionnaire. 

•  Step 3: The Commission will incorporate all feedback into a revised draft of the EU 
report. The Istanbul Convention Contact Group and the Public Administration Contact 
Group  will  have  the  opportunity  to  submit  any  final  comments.  Additionally,  the 
Commission  will  share  the  revised  draft  with  the  Council  Working  Party  on 
Fundamental  Rights,  Citizens’  Rights  and  Free  Movement  of  Persons  (FREMP)  for 
information in due time before the report is submitted (12). The revised draft will also 
be  shared  with  the  Committee  on  Women’s  Rights  and  Gender  Equality  and  the 
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs in the European Parliament.  

•  Step  4:  The  Commission  will  finalise  the  report  and  submit  it  to  the  GREVIO 

Secretariat by 28 November 2025.  

Recognising  the  valuable  expertise  of  civil  society  organisations  (CSOs),  particularly  in 
relation  to policies on violence against women and domestic violence, the Commission  has 
established a dedicated  network with  CSOs  to help  the  EU implement  the Convention. The 
Commission will keep this network informed throughout the evaluation process. Following the 
shadow reporting procedures outlined in Article 68(5) of the Convention, GREVIO encourages 
non-governmental  organisations,  civil  society  and  national  institutions  for  the  protection  of 
human rights to  independently share their input on (EU)  implementation  of the Convention 
GREVIO.  
with 
directly 

b.  The evaluation visit  

After the EU report has been submitted, a GREVIO delegation will conduct an evaluation visit 
to gain a thorough understanding of the EU’s implementation of the Convention (13). GREVIO 

(12) See p. 8 in the Code of Conduct, note 5. 
(13) Article 68 (9) of the Convention. 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
has tentatively scheduled its evaluation visit for May or June 2026. GREVIO will outline a 
programme specifying the EU institutions, agencies and bodies it would like to meet during 
the visit, and the Commission will be responsible for organising and facilitating the visit. The 
programme will include a multi-entity meeting at the beginning and a closing meeting at the 
end, with representatives from relevant EU institutions, agencies and bodies. The multi-entity 
meeting will focus on the coordination of policies on violence against women and measures 
between the relevant EU institutions, agencies and bodies, while the closing meeting will allow 
the  GREVIO  delegation  to  present  its  preliminary  findings  orally.  All  meetings  will  be 
confidential.  In  addition,  GREVIO  will  independently  organise  a  confidential  meeting  with 
CSOs and non-state stakeholders during the evaluation visit. 

The Commission will share relevant information about the evaluation visit with the other EU 
institutions, agencies and bodies through the Istanbul Convention Contact Group and the Public 
Administration Contact Group. 

c.  Publication of the baseline evaluation report by GREVIO 

At the end of the evaluation process, GREVIO will prepare a baseline evaluation report based 
on  all  the  information  collected.  The  report  will  include  a  comprehensive  and  detailed 
assessment of the level of compliance of EU legislative measures, policy, strategic measures 
or  other  measures  with  the  provisions  of  the  Istanbul  Convention  within  the  area  of  EU 
competence. The finalisation of the report consists of two stages:  

•  Stage 1: The Commission is expected to receive the draft baseline evaluation report by 
the end of March 2027. The EU will have the opportunity to correct any factual errors 
or provide new important factual information, within a deadline tentatively set for early 
September 2027. The Commission will share the report with the other EU institutions, 
agencies  and  bodies  through  the  Istanbul  Convention  Contact  Group  and  the  Public 
Administration  Contact  Group  so  they  can  contribute.  The  Commission  will  then 
coordinate the responses and compile a consolidated version of the EU’s comments on 
the draft report to be submitted to the GREVIO Secretariat. GREVIO will review the 
comments and determine whether any amendments are necessary before submitting the 
report to the GREVIO Plenary for final adoption in October 2027.  

•  Stage  2:  After  GREVIO  has  adopted  the  baseline  evaluation  report,  the  GREVIO 
Secretariat will initiate the confidential dialogue with the EU by sending the adopted 
report with an official letter and requesting the submission of any final comments within 
a  six-week  deadline.  No  amendments  to  the  report  will  be  possible  at  this  stage, 
however  the  EU  will  have  the  opportunity  to  submit  official  comments.  The 
Commission will share the adopted report with the Istanbul Convention Contact Group 
and  the  Public Administration  Contact  Group  for  comments.  It  will  then  draft  the 
official  comments  based  on  the  discussions  and  share  the  report  with  the  GREVIO 
Secretariat. The  Commission  will  also  submit  the  report  to  FREMP  in  line  with  the 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Code  of  Conduct  and  to  the  European  Parliament  in  line  with Article  70(2)  of  the 
Convention (14).  

The report will then be published by GREVIO on the dedicated website (15), alongside the EU’s 
official  comments  on  it,  and  transmitted  by  the  GREVIO  Secretariat  to  the  CoP,  currently 
scheduled for December 2027.   

d.  Recommendation and conclusions by the Committee of the Parties 

Based  on  the  GREVIO  baseline  evaluation  report,  the  CoP  may  adopt  a  recommendation 
addressed  to  the  EU  in  accordance  with  Article  68(12)  of  the  Convention (16).  Such 
recommendation may be adopted in May/June 2028 and will include GREVIO’s most pressing 
concerns. Those concerns relate to shortcomings that GREVIO considers require immediate 
action, covering the whole Convention, as well as those issues that GREVIO considers should 
be remedied in the near future, covering Chapters I and II of the Convention.  

The EU will be asked to submit a written report to the CoP Secretariat on the measures taken 
within a three-year period after the adoption of the recommendation, within 10 specific areas 
of the Convention (17). On the basis of this information and any additional information obtained 
from non-governmental organisations, civil society and national institutions for the protection 
of  human  rights,  the  CoP  may  issue  conclusions  to  the  EU  on  its  implementation  of  the 
recommendation, prepared by the Secretariat of the Committee, provisionally  scheduled for 
December 2031. Given that the recommendation and conclusions will be adopted by a body 
set up by an agreement (the CoP) and that their adoption may affect the interpretation of the 
Istanbul  Convention under Union law, a Union position on the recommendation and  on the 
conclusions to the EU will have to be established in accordance with the procedure set out in 
Article 218(9) Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ahead of the respective CoP 
meetings, when the EU, as a CoP member, will participate in their adoption. 

e.  EU follow-up to the baseline evaluation report, the recommendation and 

the conclusions 

The Commission will develop the first draft of the EU’s written report on the measures taken 
to implement the recommendation to the EU, which will serve as the basis for the conclusions 
to the EU. As the EU must submit this report within a three-year period after the adoption of 
the recommendation, this is scheduled for 2031. The Chairs of the Istanbul Convention Contact 
Group and the Public Administration Contact Group will share the Commission’s draft of the 
written  report  with  their  group  and  request  that  the  representatives  in  the  respective  groups 

(14) See point 8 in the Code of Conduct, note 5. 
(15) Country-monitoring work – Istanbul Convention, Action against violence against women and domestic 
violence. 
(16) The applicable procedure for issuing recommendations was settled by the CoP at its 4th meeting on 30 
January 2018 and is described in the discussion paper on the adoption of recommendations by the Committee of 
the Parties in light of GREVIO’s reports and proposals/suggestions, IC-CP(2018)6. 
(17) The applicable procedure for supervising the implementation and reporting is defined in the ‘Framework for 
supervising the implementation of the recommendations addressed to state parties’, adopted by the CoP on 13 
April 2021, IC-CP/Inf(2021)2, CoP Supervision Framework_adopted. 

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
coordinate their internal responses and submit their contributions to the respective Chair within 
a  given  deadline. As  envisaged  in  the  Code  of  Conduct,  the  EU’s  follow-up  to  GREVIO’s 
baseline evaluation report as well as to the recommendation and conclusions adopted by the 
CoP  based  on  it  will  also  be  discussed  in  FREMP.  The  Commission  will  finalise  the  EU’s 
written report and submit it to the CoP Secretariat. 

III.  Conclusion  

Preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence at the EU level is a 
joint effort. Therefore the Commission invites the EU institutions, agencies and bodies to fully 
participate and cooperate at all stages of the process in a timely manner.  

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex: Provisional timetable for EU baseline evaluation procedure 

Date 

Step 

14 January 2025 

28 November 2025 

May/June 2026 

March 2027 

September 2027 

October 2027 

October 2027 

November/December 2027 

December 2027 

May/June 2028 

May/June 2031 

December 2031 

Launch of evaluation 
(EU received the questionnaire) 

Deadline for submission of EU 
report to GREVIO 

Evaluation visit by GREVIO 
delegation 
Commission to receive draft 
baseline report for correcting 
factual errors or adding new 
information 
Commission to submit revised 
baseline report to GREVIO 
Secretariat  
Final adoption by GREVIO 
Plenary  

Commission to receive adopted 
report for final comments 
Commission to submit final 
comments to GREVIO 
Publication of final report and 
transmission to the CoP 
Adoption of the recommendation 
to the EU by the CoP 
Deadline for EU report on the 
implementation of the 
recommendation 
Adoption by the CoP of the 
conclusions on the EU’s 
implementation of the 
recommendation  

8