The European system of human rights supported by the European Union and the Council of Europe which are recently engaged in a dialogue now faces austerity policies that could threaten its existence. Over the last five years, the European system of Human Rights has increasingly come under pressure as a debt crisis hits the EU Member States. In this economic context, funding has become a fundamental factor for the European institutions and a prism for reform. The future of this European system in a world increasingly dominated by global finance and economic strength as sources of power and funding constitutes a litmus test for the protection of fundamental human rights. The EU Member States have become reluctant to provide more funding for the European system and particularly for courts that regularly find them guilty of breaches of human rights, due both to the economic crisis and also to the ever-increasing number of cases handled by the European Court of Human Rights, the European Committee of Social Rights and the European Court of Justice. There have been several impacts of the economic meltdown and austerities measures, such as the growing gap between the “rich or solvent” Member States and the “poor or insolvent” Member States, which leads to inequalities in their contributions to the European Human Rights system, as well as the economic cost associated with the expected adhesion of the EU to the Convention and the increasing role of private foundations, financiers and economic indicators in the human rights system.