Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

AddedZ. whereas Member States and EU institutions and bodies, including the Court of Justice, the FRA and the EPPO all have a crucial role to play in upholding EU values and ensuring respect for fundamental rights;

AddedAA. whereas the European Ombudsman conducted an investigation into the exchange of personal texts and calls related to the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines between the Commission President and the Pfizer CEO, which the Commission refused to disclose afterwards; whereas, in July 2022, the Ombudsman found that this refusal constituted maladministration;

AddedAB. whereas, for several years, the rule of law has been deteriorating in several Member States as a result of the systematic actions of their governments, particularly in Hungary and Poland, which have ongoing Article 7(1) TEU procedures against them; whereas rule of law and fundamental rights concerns are rapidly growing in other Member States; whereas it is crucial to ensure that Member States comply with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, including the Venice Commission;

AddedAC. whereas poverty is a form of structural and social injustice, which is grounded in gender inequalities, discrimination and unequal opportunities to access goods and services, leading to the violation of fundamental rights; whereas tackling poverty requires taking an intersectional approach into account and paying particular attention to individuals in vulnerable situations, such as children, women, racialised and ethnic communities, LGBTIQ+ people, migrants and asylum seekers and people with disabilities, as well as individuals from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds;

AddedAD. whereas, according to the report of the European Environment Agency entitled ‘Air quality in Europe 2022’, 238 000 premature deaths resulted from exposure to fine particulate matter air pollution in the Union in 2020 alone;

The rule of law and access to justice

Change 3

Changed1. StronglyRecalls the importance of free media in upholding democracy, holding public and private institutions to account and allowing citizens to access fact-based information; stresses the importance of media pluralism and journalistic freedom; strongly condemns thatthe fact that, in 20222022, another global record for the number of imprisoned journalists was set;set, and calls for a swiftthe agreementfull ondelivery theof anti-SLAPPjustice directive,with whichregard shouldto offerthe substantivekilling andof broadinvestigative protectionjournalists againstin abusivethe lawsuits;EU;

Change 4

Removed2. Is deeply concerned by the increasing level of corruption in certain Member States, in particular of cases involving high-level officials and politicians; is concerned about the varying levels of implementation of the EU anti-corruption framework in Member States;

Added2. Calls for a swift agreement on the anti-SLAPP directive, which should offer substantive and broad protection against abusive lawsuits; calls on the Member States to implement the Commission Recommendation on protecting journalists and human rights defenders that engage in public participation from manifestly unfounded or abusive court proceedings, and specifically to remove prison sentences for defamation cases, decriminalise defamation and favour civil or administrative procedures instead; urges the Commission to address the seriousness of SLAPPs brought through criminal proceedings by presenting a proposal for measures to ensure that defamation, libel and slander, which constitute criminal offences in most Member States, cannot be used for SLAPPs through public or private prosecution; stresses that SLAPPs are only one method used to silence journalists and calls on the Commission to further investigate other practices and to intervene; calls on politicians to publicly condemn threats and attacks against journalists;

Removed3. Stresses that judicial independence and effective checks and balances, which can vary from one Member State to another, are key components of the rule of law; condemns any attempts by Member State governments to exert political influence on or control over the independent decision-making of the judiciary;

Added3. Reiterates its concern over the breach of fundamental rights with regard to the use of Pegasus and equivalent spyware to target individuals and high-profile personalities, such as journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders, politicians, or other actors; underlines that the illegitimate use of spyware by national governments directly and indirectly affects the integrity of decision-making, thus undermining EU democracy and highlighting the urgent need for greater transparency and legal accountability in the surveillance industry;

Removed4. Supports the use of the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the horizontal enabling conditions for the freezing of EU funding to fight corruption and rule of law backsliding in Member States; stresses that funds restricted through different conditionality measures must only be released when key rule of law, corruption and human rights concerns are genuinely and adequately addressed; calls on the European Council to determine whether Hungary has committed serious and persistent breaches of EU values under Article 7(2) TEU;

Added4. Calls on the Member States, in particular Greece, Hungary, Poland, Spain and Cyprus, to follow their respective recommendations from its report on the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware; recalls its recommendations for common EU standards to be followed, as individual rights cannot be put at risk by permitting unfettered access to surveillance;

Added5. Urges the Member States to draw up national action plans for the safety of journalists, to create a favourable environment for plural and independent media to flourish and to play their essential watchdog role to hold governments and other actors to account;

Added6. Recalls that the trade in and use of spyware needs to be regulated strictly; underlines that the use of spyware must be authorised only in exceptional and specific cases with respect to investigations into a limited and closed list of clearly and precisely defined serious crimes, be justified on a case-by-case basis, comply with the Charter and other relevant Union law, and be ordered, ex ante, by an independent and impartial judicial authority with effective, known and accessible remedial measures; stresses that all spyware surveillance must be scrutinised by an independent ex post oversight authority, which must ensure that any authorised surveillance is carried out in compliance with fundamental rights and in accordance with the conditions set out by the Court of Justice, the ECtHR and the Venice Commission; insists that individuals targeted with spyware be given access to real and meaningful legal remedy;

Added7. Stresses that corruption is incompatible with the values of democracy and the rule of law as it deepens inequalities and erodes citizens’ trust in good governance; is deeply concerned by the increasing level of corruption in several Member States, in particular cases involving high-level officials and politicians; reiterates its condemnation of the alleged cases of corruption involving current and former Members of the European Parliament; underlines, in this light, the adoption of the amendments to its Rules of Procedure that aim to strengthen its integrity, independence and accountability; is concerned about the varying levels of implementation of the EU anti-corruption framework in Member States; requests that zero tolerance for corruption must be the rule; calls for the establishment of an independent ethics body; calls on the Member States to ensure the full implementation of the Whistleblower Protection Directive;

Added8. Stresses that judicial independence and effective checks and balances, which can vary from one Member State to another, are key components of the rule of law; highlights that serious concerns remain as to the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in several Member States; condemns any attempts by Member State governments to exert political influence or control over the independent decision-making of the judiciary either directly or by organisational means;

Added9. Supports the creation of an EU strategy to ensure concrete and coordinated action at EU level, including through the creation of a protection mechanism for human rights defenders in Europe, building on the examples in EU foreign policy, to ensure prevention, direct assistance and accountability;

Added10. Supports the use of the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the horizontal enabling conditions for the freezing of EU funding to fight corruption and rule of law backsliding in Member States; stresses that funds restricted through different conditionality measures must only be released once key enabling conditions are met; urges the Member States to complete the appropriate measures to reach the milestones set out in their respective recovery and resilience plans; calls on the European Council to take action and to determine whether Hungary has committed serious and persistent breaches of EU values under Article 7(2) TEU; strongly deplores the systematic scapegoating of the LGBTQI+ community by the Hungarian authorities; underlines that the Council shares the responsibility for the protection of the values enshrined in Article 2 TEU and that the failure to do so would have long-lasting and potentially damaging consequences; insists that Parliament’s role and competences be respected;

Added11. Deplores the fact that some Member States are prolonging state of emergency measures beyond what is necessary and proportionate, and rushing to adopt legislation without proper consultation;

Added12. Reiterates the imminent need to establish an EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights and urges the Commission and the Council to immediately enter into negotiations with Parliament on this agreement;

Added13. Welcomes the introduction of broadcasting and live-streaming in 2022 by the Court of Justice to facilitate partial public access to its judicial activity;

Freedoms

Change 5

Changed5.14. NotesExpresses deep concern about the increasing threats to the freedoms of association, speech and assembly; reiterates that the right to peaceful assembly can only be restricted only when provided for by law and ifwhen necessary and proportionate to protect a general interest recognised by the Union or the rights and freedoms of others; condemns the use, in some instances, of violent and disproportionate intervention by law enforcement authorities during peaceful protests and condemns cases of discretionary mass arrests of potential protesters; encourages the relevant national authorities to ensure transparent, impartial, independent and effective investigations into the suspected or alleged use of disproportionate force; calls on the Member States to use alternative practices to maintain public order that have already proven to be effective in other Member States;

Change 6

Changed6.15. Emphasises that in order to ensure the right to freedom of expression and information, which is foundational for any democracy, information must be universally accessible and diverse, anddiverse; underscores that artistic freedom must be guaranteed; stresses that disinformation can be highly disruptive to the functioning of democratic societies, economies and political systems; recalls the need for media and digital literacy to be included in civic education in order to counter the spread of disinformation; reiterates its recommendations to take effective measures to tackle disinformation from malicious foreign powers, in particular with a view to the upcoming European elections; underlines that an independent and pluralistic media landscape, both online and offline, is indispensable to effectively counter disinformation and propaganda, and therefore must be promoted, including through effective action against media concentrations;

Change 7

Removed7. Underlines the crucial role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in promoting active citizenship, fundamental rights and democratic participation in Europe; calls for a Commission strategy and common rules in all Member States to promote a regulatory and political environment free from chilling effects, threats and attacks;

Added16. Stresses that, under Union law, national regulatory authorities and/or bodies must be functionally independent from their government and must not seek or take any instructions from any other body; notes that the political independence of media regulation and oversight by the Member States and the Commission, the protection of editorial independence throughout the EU, the protection of journalists from surveillance and the protection of journalistic sources are of paramount importance; calls, in this regard, for the adoption of a strong European media freedom act to guarantee the independence, plurality and freedom of media across the EU, ensuring transparency of ownership and financing;

Removed8. Recalls that under Article 6 of the Charter, everyone has the right to liberty and security, which means that everyone within the Union should be protected from unlawful and arbitrary arrest;

Added17. Underlines the crucial role of CSOs in promoting active citizenship, fundamental rights and democratic participation in Europe; urges the Commission to present a strategy and establish minimum standards for the protection of CSOs in all Member States in order to promote a regulatory and political environment free from chilling effects, threats and attacks, to provide CSOs with sustainable and non-discriminatory access to resources and to support their engagement in civil dialogue and participation in policymaking; deplores the fact that the situation of human rights defenders in the EU has deteriorated alarmingly in recent years; urges the Commission and the Member States to take the necessary measures to ensure that human rights defenders are able to work free from hindrance and insecurity;

Removed9. Condemns the rise in antisemitic, anti-Islamic and racist incidents in the EU; deplores that incidents of discrimination, racist and xenophobic crimes are often not reported to the authorities, which leads to de facto impunity;

Added18. Recalls that, under Article 6 of the Charter, everyone has the right to liberty and security, which means that everyone in the EU should be protected from unlawful and arbitrary arrest; calls on the Member States to follow the Commission Recommendation on procedural rights of suspects and accused persons in order to improve detention conditions and, thus, ensure a higher level of protection for the right to liberty and security;

Removed10. Points out that the datafication of everyday life and data scandals mean that the right to the protection of personal data is of growing importance; reiterates its concerns about the uneven application of the General Data Protection Regulation;

Added19. Condemns the rise in religion or belief-based discrimination and racist incidents in the EU; calls on the Commission and the Member States to take decisive action in this regard, including at international level; recalls that, under Article 10 of the Charter, everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; deplores the fact that incidents of discrimination and racist and xenophobic crimes are often not reported to the authorities, which leads to de facto impunity; regrets the fact that not all Member States have fully transposed the framework decision on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law;

Removed11. Strongly condemns the widespread fundamental rights violations and use of disproportionate violence by national authorities at Union borders;

Added20. Is concerned over the increasing number of incidents of police violence against the Romani population; calls on the Member States to rigorously investigate these incidents to ensure that there is no impunity for introducing and/or implementing repressive, violent measures against Romani individuals or communities; calls further on the Member States to address biased police recordings, reporting, prosecution and court judgments and the inadequate access to justice of Romani people;

Added21. Points out that, as a result of the datafication of everyday life and data scandals, the right to the protection of personal data is of growing importance; reiterates its concerns about the uneven application of the General Data Protection Regulation; supports the initiatives to strengthen the legislative process on an EU regulatory framework on artificial intelligence providing for strong safeguards for fundamental rights;

Added22. Strongly condemns the widespread fundamental rights violations and the use of disproportionate violence at EU borders against migrants including refugees, such as arbitrary detention, inhumane living conditions and lack of access to healthcare, unlawful returns and violent pushbacks; is very concerned about Member States codifying the use of pushbacks into their national law; condemns all laws in the Member States that undermine the effective protection of the human rights of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants on the land and at sea, as well as the criminalisation of humanitarian workers and activists; highlights that almost a third of asylum seekers are children and reiterates that immigration detention of children should not be permitted;

Added23. Calls for the EU and the Member States to ensure that effective oversight mechanisms are put in place to ensure fundamental rights compliance at the external borders, which should also cover the monitoring of border surveillance activities; calls further on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that the individuals whose data are stored in the databases of the EU’s large-scale information systems are informed about their rights and have access to available remedies;

Added24. Strongly deplores the numerous deaths of refugees and migrants at sea who are often victims of trafficking of human beings and have to face inhumane and degrading treatment without any consideration for their safety; reiterates the obligation under the international law of the sea to assist persons in distress and urgently calls for permanent coordinated search and rescue operations with swift disembarkations, and for Member States to take every action possible to save the lives of people at risk at sea; calls for the right to asylum of all persons rescued at sea to be respected, by assessing individual circumstances on a case-by-case basis;

Added25. Notes that several Member States use national security as a determinant for internal policies, such as migration; stresses that any measures taken on the basis of national security must be necessary and proportionate, and must not undermine the rights guaranteed by the Charter; recalls that Article 19 of the Charter provides for protection in the event of removal, expulsion or extradition by prohibiting collective expulsions and, therefore, requires individual assessments and prohibits the rejection of applications for international protection based solely on a specific nationality;

Added26. Welcomes the activation of the EU Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) following the war in Ukraine, which aims to ensure access to protection for refugees and asylum seekers of any origin; recalls that access to accommodation, employment, education, healthcare and social welfare services under the TPD must take into account a gender approach; deplores the unequal treatment, racial discrimination and violence faced by non-Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, in particular people of colour and LGBTIQ+ people; deplores the double standards on migrants and refugees in the EU and calls for an end to this situation;

Added27. Welcomes the recommendation of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers on protecting the rights of migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women and girls, calling on Member States to take measures to prevent discrimination against such women, including by promoting access to employment and sexual and reproductive healthcare, and facilitating access to services and justice for survivors of gender-based violence;

Added28. Notes, with concern, the large population of stateless persons in the EU, especially children being born stateless; calls on the Commission to develop a comprehensive strategy and action plan to address statelessness in the EU and to protect them from expulsion; calls on the Member States to properly identify, recognise and protect stateless people, addressing the specific vulnerabilities of stateless persons;

Equality and dignity

Change 8

Removed12. Deplores that the proposal on the horizontal anti-discrimination directive has remained blocked in the Council for 14 years;

Added29. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the right to non-discrimination and equal treatment is respected across the EU; deplores the fact that the proposal on the horizontal anti-discrimination directive has remained blocked in the Council since 2008; considers that any update of this proposal by the Commission must build on Parliament’s position, address intersectional discrimination and explicitly prohibit discrimination on any combination of grounds listed in the Charter; regrets the fact that the Council has ignored these requests and urges the Council to integrate them into its mandate and to take all appropriate actions to fight discrimination in the EU;

Removed13. Recalls that gender-based violence is highly prevalent in all Member States across the Union; condemns the backsliding on women’s rights in some Member States, particularly the denial of access to safe and legal abortion;

Added30. Calls on the Commission to monitor and ensure proper follow-up of the implementation of the Member States’ national action plans against racism and the EU anti-racism action plan; urges, furthermore, the Commission to mainstream anti-racism and anti-discrimination in all EU policies; calls on the upcoming Council presidencies to seriously consider establishing a Council configuration on gender equality and equality;

Removed14. Recalls that hate crimes and hate speech motivated by racism, xenophobia, religious intolerance or a person’s disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics are extreme examples of discrimination;

Added31. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to tackle racial discrimination in all areas of society, with a specific emphasis on education and the prevention of school segregation, through effective legislative and policy measures, both in the Member States and in enlargement countries;

Removed15. Welcomes the Commission’s initiative to extend the list of EU crimes in Article 83(1) TFEU to hate speech and hate crimes;

Added32. Recalls, with regard to digitalisation, the need to pay close attention to discriminatory biases being introduced into new technologies and the need to require developers and deployers to provide publicly accessible information on how these systems are trained; calls on the Commission and the Member States to put in place measures to prevent new technologies, including artificial intelligence, from exacerbating discrimination, existing inequalities and poverty; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that artificial intelligence systems are guided by the principles of transparency, explainability, fairness and accountability, and that fundamental rights impact assessments are put in place; calls further on the Commission and the Member States to tackle the gender and diversity gaps in the information and communications technology (ICT) and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) sectors, particularly in the development of new technologies, and especially in decision-making positions;

Removed16. Welcomes the fact that the Commission for the first time invoked an isolated violation of Article 2 TEU when it referred the Hungarian ‘child protection law’, which camouflaged other objectives, to the CJEU;

Added33. Recalls the importance of children belonging to national minorities being able to find dedicated schools offering education in their language; encourages the inclusion of national minority representatives in decision-making processes impacting their education systems;

Added34. Recalls that gender-based violence is highly prevalent in all Member States across the EU; strongly condemns the rapid backsliding on women’s and LGBTIQ+ rights in several Member States; strongly condemns the denial of access to safe and legal abortion services as it is a form of gender-based violence; highlights that the ECtHR has ruled that restrictive abortion laws and lack of implementation violate women’s right to bodily autonomy and integrity; reiterates its condemnation of Poland’s law that imposes a near total ban on abortion; recalls that citizens who help people to access abortion services when it is not freely or legally available should not be persecuted; reiterates its call for the right to abortion to be included in the Charter;

Added35. Welcomes the Commission’s proposal for a directive to combat violence against women and domestic violence and calls for the swift conclusion of the negotiations and for gender-based violence to be included in the list of EU crimes; highlights that such a directive should guarantee the obligations laid down in the Istanbul Convention as a minimum standard and aim to strengthen these standards to increase the level of protection; welcomes the EU’s ratification of the Istanbul Convention which entered into force on 1 October 2023; calls on the remaining Member States to swiftly ratify the Convention in order to protect women against violence;

Added36. Underlines that persons with disabilities, in particular women with disabilities, continue to face multiple and intersectional discrimination based on their disability, gender, race, ethnicity, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, migration status or socio-economic background; stresses that women and girls with disabilities are particularly subject to gender-based violence, including physical, sexual, psychological and economic violence; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that mechanisms for reporting violence against persons with disabilities, as well as support services for victims, are put in place and are made accessible;

Added37. Stresses that the rights of the child are universal and that every child should enjoy the same rights, free of discrimination, such as the right to the recognition of parenthood, including for same-sex couples; welcomes the Commission’s proposal for a regulation on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition of decisions and acceptance of authentic instruments in matters of parenthood and on the creation of a European Certificate of Parenthood to protect the rights of all children by ensuring that their parental ties, including, in particular, same-sex parents, established in one Member State are recognised in all EU Member States;

Added38. Calls on the Member States to make forced sterilisation punishable as a criminal offence; reiterates its position that the directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence should include forced sterilisation as a criminal offence under Article 83(1) TFEU;

Added39. Recalls that hate crimes and hate speech motivated by racism, xenophobia or religious intolerance, or by a hostility or prejudice based on a person’s disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics are extreme examples of discrimination; notes that the Member States have a duty to combat and investigate hate crime, punish perpetrators and take preventive measures; stresses the need for the appropriate recording of hate crimes by law enforcement authorities in order to better understand the nature and prevalence of the phenomenon and its impact on victims, and to address its root causes;