Discussion concerning EU accession to the ECHR is, as
stated earlier, as old as the EEC itself. The Lisbon Treaty
provided the formal catalyst for change by imposing an
obligation on the EU to accede. The obligation had no formal
time line, but the EU began the accession process shortly after
ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, treating the issue of rights protection
as part of the broader Stockholm programme, which
set out the political priorities for the Area of Freedom, Security
and Justice for five years.111 There will be challenges, both
procedural and substantive, flowing from accession, but they will
be resolved, even if the precise manner in which this occurs may
not always be easy to predict. Accession will signal a new chapter
in the protection of rights in the EU and a new dimension to
inter-institutional judicial relationships.