Council of the European Union

Death penalty

EU campaign for worldwide abolition of capital punishment:  EU Guidelines on the Death Penalty .

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The EU Guidelines on the Death Penalty were the first set of human rights guidelines adopted by the Council in 1998. This guideline underlines the priority the EU attaches to the fight against the death penalty as a strongly held policy view agreed by all member states. The EU is opposed to capital punishment in all circumstances and considers that abolition of the death penalty contributes to the enhancement of human dignity and the progressive development of human rights.

In line with the Treaty on European Union obligation (Article 6) to respect fundamental rights, as guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human rights and Fundamental Freedoms, all EU member states have abolished the death penalty. Article 2 (2) of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights provides that no one shall be condemned to the death penalty, or executed. 

The Guidelines were reviewed in June 2008. The two main objectives of the Guidelines are to:

• work towards universal abolition of the death penalty, if necessary with the immediate establishment of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to its abolition
• where the death penalty still exists, to call for its use to be progressively restricted and to insist that it be carried out according to minimum standards which are defined in an annex to the Guidelines and based on international human rights obligations.

In order to achieve these objectives, the EU acts both in its bilateral relations with third countries and in multilateral fora:

• at bilateral level, the death penalty is systematically addressed in human rights dialogues and consultations with third countries. In addition, the EU issues public declarations and carries out general demarches as well as intervening on individual cases in line with the Guidelines. The EU pays particular attention to influencing countries whose policy on the death penalty is in flux
• at multilateral level, the EU has been active for many years and achieved a breakthrough with the adoption, in December 2007, of a resolution by the UN General Assembly Resolution on a Moratorium on the use of the death penalty (62/149). The resolution was sponsored by a wide, cross regional alliance of countries and successfully repeated in 2008 (63/168).

In December 2007, the Council agreed to establish a 'European Day against the Death Penalty' to be celebrated on 10 October from 2008 onwards.

Illustrations of relevant EU activity:

Links: