On December 18, 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the draft agreement providing for the accession of the EU to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) is not compatible with EU law.  In 2009, the Lisbon Treaty made it a treaty obligation for the EU to accede to the ECHR, and in 2013, the Council of Europe and the EU concluded the Draft Agreement on Accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights, which attempted to make the adjustments to both institutions in order to allow a non-state organization such as the EU to sign onto the Convention and also stated that “an opinion of the Court of Justice of the European Union would be sought on the compatibility of the draft agreement with EU treaties.”  According to the press release, the Court found that the draft agreement was incompatible with EU law for a number of reasons, including because it “specifically disregards the intrinsic nature of the EU” and does not coordinate Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union with the ECHR to ensure that the “unity and effectiveness of EU law are not compromised.”  The Court also found that the draft agreement was incompatible with Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which provides that the CJEU has exclusive jurisdiction over cases between member states regarding EU law, because it failed to rule out the possibility that the European Court of Human Rights would be able to hear cases on ECHR compliance where EU law is at issue.  The Court further held that the draft agreement “fails to have regard to the specific characteristics of EU law with regard to the judicial review of acts, actions or omissions on the part of the EU in the area of the [common foreign and security policy].”