The move directly affects the balance between fundamental rights, state sovereignty and internal security.
The development:
- December 10, 2025, Strasbourg – Conference of Justice Ministers.
- 27 countries aligned with a joint statement promoted by Italy and Denmark.
- Signatories include: Italy, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Ireland, Finland, the Baltic states, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and several countries in the Western Balkans.
- The states reaffirm: “Our strong belief in the Council of Europe and in European values, democracy, the rule of law, and human rights”
- And fully confirm their support for the European Court of Human Rights and its independence.
The political line. According to the signatories, the Convention system:
- was designed in a very different historical context,
- now faces pressure from: serious foreign criminality, human trafficking, the geopolitical instrumentalisation of migration.
The statement warns: “Failing to recognise and respond to these challenges, we risk undermining the very fundamental rights and freedoms that the Convention protects, thereby eroding confidence in the whole Convention system”.
The core issue: expulsions and security. The most politically sensitive point concerns the expulsion of foreign nationals convicted of crimes.
- The statement sets a clear starting point: “A State Party can expel foreigners convicted of serious crimes even though they have acquired ties to their host Country”.
- The request is to rebalance Article 8 of the Convention, giving: more weight to the nature and seriousness of the crime, less weight to family, social and cultural ties.
- The stated objective is to prevent cases where individuals convicted of: violent crimes, sexual offences, organised crime, human and drug trafficking, cannot be expelled.
Inhuman treatment, returns and third-country deals. Other key points include:
- Article 3 – inhuman and degrading treatment
- Its scope should be limited to the most extreme cases, so as not to automatically block: expulsions, removals, extraditions.
- Agreements with third countries
- Green light for cooperation on: asylum, returns, removal procedures, as long as fundamental rights are preserved.
Fast decision-making: Support for clear and enforceable rules to avoid endless procedural bottlenecks in residence cases.
The legal framework states that it wants to reinforce. The joint statement recalls core principles:
- state sovereignty over entry, stay and expulsion,
- subsidiarity and national margin of appreciation,
- proportionality between rights and security,
- the idea of a “democracy capable of defending itself”,
- preventing the Court from becoming a “fourth instance”.
What leaders are saying
- Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen: “We must ensure that foreigners convicted of serious crimes can be expelled.”
- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni: Security, she said, is an “absolute priority” and should not be subordinated to legal interpretations that “end up rewarding those who have committed serious violations.”
Between the lines: Italy and Denmark are building a European axis on security, expulsions and countering the instrumentalisation of migration.
- With 27 countries on board, the issue is now: politically legitimised, but set to reopen a deep fault line between security governance and Europe’s human-rights architecture.
What happens next:
- A structured dialogue with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe is now underway.
- Political objective: adoption of a new declaration on migration and the Convention, May 15, 2026, at the Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Chișinău, Moldova.
