The European Court of Human Rights has come under growing political pressure, with some political leaders claiming that its case law on migration should be “rebalanced” because it protects “the wrong people”. Not everyone embraces that rhetoric, but it is no longer coming only from the political fringes. This May, the 46 Member States of the Council of Europe are expected to adopt a joint political declaration on migration and the European Convention on Human Rights.

In this episode, I speak with Eva Sevrin, a researcher at Ghent University and the KU Leuven Center for Public Law who specializes in migration and human rights law. We focus on a simple question that often gets lost in the debate: what does the Court's case law actually say?

Sources:

• H. Ní Chinnéide and E. Sevrin, Restoring balance: a critical response to the open letter on migration and human rights, June 2025
• E. Desmet, E. Sevrin, and T. Spijkerboer, Expert report: how strict is the European Court of Human Rights in migration cases?, Strasbourg Observers, February 2026
• E. Sevrin, Expulsion of severely ill migrants: beyond the deathbed, still exceptional, Strasbourg Observers, April 2026
• Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH), ECHR and migration (elements for a declaration to be adopted in Chișinău on 14-15 May 2026)
• Joint open letter of 22 May 2025
• Joint Statement delivered to the Conference of Ministers of Justice of the Council of Europe on 10 December 2025
• CoE Secretary General Berset on the joint letter challenging the European Court of Human Rights, May 2025
• CoE Commissioner for Human Rights O’Flaherty, Externalised asylum and migration policies and human rights law, September 2025
• Eurostat, Asylum and Migration Overview, 2025
• Soering v UK
• Üner v the Netherlands
• Savran v Denkmark
• Maslov v Austria
• Chahal v UK
• Othman (Abu Qatada) v UK
• Trabelsi v Belgium
• Paposhvili v Belgium
• Ilias and Ahmed v Hungary
• Grand Chamber hearing: pushbacks at the Polish-Belarusian border

Book recommendations:

• S. Benhabib, The rights of others
• A. Smith, Spring
• O. Tokarczuk, Primeval and Other Times

Back in 2020, the European Commission launched its five-year Gender Equality Strategy. Its aim? To achieve a Europe “where gender-based violence, sex discrimination, and structural inequality between women and men are a thing of the past”. We're now in 2026. And it's fair to say there is still a great deal of work to be done.

In a recent EU-wide survey, 1 in 3 women reported having experienced physical or sexual violence at some point in her life. Sit with that for a moment. One in three. Much of this violence remains underreported and under-prosecuted — and too little is being done to prevent it.

So what, exactly, is the European Union doing to combat violence against women?

To answer that question, I’m joined by Lisa Collste. She works in the European Commission’s DG Justice, where she focuses on gender-based violence — an issue she has worked on for many years, at EU level, at the United Nations, and as a public prosecutor in Sweden.

In our conversation, we discuss how widespread violence against women is, and how it shows up in everyday life, both offline and online. We look at the EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention and the new Directive on combating violence against women — what they change, and what they require states to do. We also touch on how these legal tools have been misrepresented and weaponised in debates around gender and sexuality. And we step back to reflect on the deeper causes of gender-based violence, and the societal shifts it would take to reduce it.

📞 If you, or someone close to you, is affected by violence against women or domestic violence and needs support, help is available. In some EU countries, you can call 116 016 for free and confidential support. If that number isn’t available where you live, please consult this list of national helplines.

Sources:

• A Union of Equality: Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025
• EU gender-based violence survey (2024)
• Opuz v Turkey (33401/02)
• Istanbul Convention (CETS No. 210)
• WS (Case C-621/21)
• EU baseline evaluation report on the implementation of the Istanbul Convention (2025)
• Directive (EU) 2024/1385 of 14 May 2024 on combating violence against women and domestic violence
• GREVIO Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension violence against women (2021)
• European Parliamentary Research Service, Definitions of rape in the legislation of EU Member States (May 2025)
• Proposal for a Directive on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children (2024)

Book recommendations:

• Caroline Criado Perez, Invisible Women
• Judith Butler, Who's Afraid of Gender
• Nina Björk, Under det rosa täcket (Under the pink duvet)

Special thanks to: Siobhán McKinerney-Lankford and Caterina Molinari.

In this episode, I’m joined by Päivi Leino-Sandberg, professor of transnational European law at the University of Helsinki and author of ‘The Politics of Legal Expertise in EU Policy-Making’.

Her book takes us behind the scenes of the EU institutions to uncover the role of legal advisors in shaping EU decisions and policies. That’s a reality I know well: in my day job—hosting a podcast is something I do off-duty—I am one of those legal advisors. So for me, Päivi’s work is not just about an abstract group of professionals; it’s about people like me.

The book offered me a mirror, a way to see my own profession through someone else’s eyes. It’s a critical, sociological study of what we do, how we think, and how we influence the European project. How objective are we really? How much of what we call 'legal advice' is shaped by political agendas? And what does that mean for the democratic legitimacy of the EU?

In this conversation, we explore those questions. We talk about the Legal Services of the Council, the Commission, and the Parliament; about the tension between technical expertise and political influence; and about how transparency—or the lack of it—around legal advice impacts trust in EU decision-making and its institutions.

If you’re new to the world of legal advice in EU policy-making, this episode will offer a rare insight into its inner workings. And if you’re part of this world, then this conversation is as much about understanding yourself as it is about understanding the EU.

Mentioned:

• P. Leino-Sandberg, The Politics of Legal Expertise in EU Policy-Making, Cambridge University Press 2021
• F. Ronkes Agerbeek, The Legal Service of the Commission, in: E. Guinchard and M-P. Granger, The New EU Judiciary, 2017
• C. Eckes and P. Leino-Sandberg, The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement – Exceptional Circumstances or a new Paradigm for EU External Relations?, Modern Law Review, October 2021
• T. Paloniitty and P. Leino-Sandberg, Watering down the Aarhus Regulation – time to deliver an adequate and effective remedy, European Law Blog, 11 March 2021
• P. Leino-Sandberg, 70 Years of EU Law - The Politics of a Professional Language, January 2025
• Sweden and Turco v Council (C-39/05 P and C-52/05 P)
• ClientEarth AISBL and Leino-Sandberg v Council (T-682/21 and T-683/21)
• European Ombudsman Decision on how the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission handle requests for public access to legislative documents (OI/4/2023/MIK of 3 December 2024)
• Europa Felix: Julio Baquero Cruz, What’s left of the law of integration?

Book recommendations:

• Mia Kankimäki, Things That Make One's Heart Beat Faster (2013) and The Women I Think About at Night (2018)
• Duncan Kennedy, A Critique of Adjudication (fin de siècle) (1998)
• Peter Lindseth, Power and Legitimacy: Reconciling Europe and the Nation-State (2011)
• Julio Baquero Cruz, What’s Left of the Law of Integration? (2018)

Comments? Guest suggestions? Email me at felix@europafelix.eu.