On 10 December 2025, 27 Council of Europe states adopted a statement expressing their concerns about the migration case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). They believe that the ECtHR imposes too many restrictions on European governments.
In this report, we answer the question of how strict the Court’s case law really is for European states. Our analysis focuses on the content of the ECtHR case law and shows that
(1) The Court has been state-friendly from the outset.
(2) Moreover, over the last decade, case law has imposed fewer restrictions on states.
(3) The basic standards of the ECHR are also enshrined in other, binding instruments.
(4) Finally, the impact of this case law at national level is limited in the case of Belgium.
Ellen Desmet, Eva Sevrin and Thomas Spijkerboer, How strict is the European Court of Human Rights in migration cases? 18 February 2026; the text has also been published at Strasbourg Observers
Dutch version here, French version here.
The report has been co-signed by Co-signed by Marie-Laure Basilien-Gainche (Lyon), Eva Brems (Ghent), Jean-Yves Carlier (Louvain-la-Neuve), Philippe De Bruycker (Brussel), Marie-Bénédicte Dembour (Ghent), Paula García Andrade (Madrid), Cristina Gortázar Rotaeche (Madrid), Valeria Ilareva (Sofia), Meltem İneli Ciğer (Isparta), Jasper Krommendijk (Nijmegen), Tesseltje de Lange (Nijmegen), Luc Leboeuf (Liège), Nora Markard (Münster), Boldizsár Nagy (Budapest), Gregor Noll (Gothenburg), Elina Pirjatanniemi (Åbo), Julie Ringelheim (Louvain-la-Neuve), Sylvie Sarolea (Louvain-la-Neuve), Jessica Schultz (Bergen), Serge Slama (Grenoble), Stijn Smet (Hasselt), Stefaan Smis (Brussel), Ashley Terlouw (Nijmegen), Rebecca Thorburn Stern (Uppsala), Nicos Trimikliniotis (Nicosia), Wouter Vandenhole (Antwerp), Jens Vedsted-Hansen (Aarhus), Catherine Warin (Lille), Stéphanie Wattier (Namur), Patrick Wautelet (Liège).