According to a letter seen by Reuters, European governments have expressed frustration with how the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to block deportations, and want to see it revised.

Prepared ahead of Thursday's meeting between Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, the letter urges the EU to review how courts interpret the convention.

"We have seen cases concerning the expulsion of criminal foreign nationals, where the interpretation of the Convention has resulted in the protection of the wrong people and posed too many limitations on the states' ability to decide whom to expel from their territories," the letter stated.

It noted that member states should "have more room nationally to decide on when to expel criminal foreign nationals."

The letter was signed by the leaders of Denmark, Italy, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's conservative bloc came to power in 2022 with promises to curb immigration. Meanwhile, over the past decade, Denmark has enacted what are now some of the toughest immigration policies in Europe.

Last week, it emerged that Denmark and Italy believe the ECtHR has gone "too far" in interpreting the law, particularly on migration issues, and that the two countries are now pushing to start a conversation about this in Europe.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is the Council of Europe's independent international judicial body, established by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to ensure adherence to member states' commitments to the convention.

It is not part of the EU's institutional framework, but rather a key organ in the 46-member Council of Europe.

In a draft of the letter in question, Denmark and Italy warned that some of the court's recent decisions have stretched the convention's meaning beyond its original intent. This, they argued, has limited states' ability to "make political decisions in our own democracies."

All 27 member states of the EU are also members of the 46-member Council of Europe, and thus signatories to the ECHR, falling under the jurisdiction of the ECtHR in Strasbourg. The court's rulings are binding for all Council of Europe members.

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