Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

AddedAU. whereas access to funding is crucial for civil society to thrive and to perform its watchdog role; whereas a vibrant civil society and an active civic space are essential pillars of democracy; whereas CSOs also play a crucial role, particularly for marginalised communities, including in the provision of social services; whereas in its political guidelines, the Commission committed to stepping up its engagement with CSOs that have expertise and an important role to play in defending specific societal issues and upholding fundamental rights;

AddedAV. whereas civil society organisations are close partners of the Member States in their efforts to protect and promote fundamental rights; whereas humanitarian assistance continues to be arbitrarily criminalised; whereas restrictions and obstacles affecting search and rescue activities (by Member States) are contributing to a continuing loss of lives; whereas the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights has called on EU Member States to end their repression of HRDs assisting refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, and to refrain from using derogatory, inflammatory or stigmatising rhetoric about them and their role;

AddedAW. whereas the upcoming EU civil society strategy should aim at ensuring that EU policies are shaped and implemented in line with the values enshrined in Article 2 TEU and the Charter; whereas the strategy should include ambitious initiatives and benchmarks to measure progress; whereas the Commission has announced its intention to create a civil society platform which can centralise and harmonise the current engagement of civil society actors in EU policymaking: whereas the platform should be co-designed and implemented with organised civil society;

AddedAX. whereas appropriate, predictable and sustainable long-term EU funding for civil society should continue to be ensured in the next multiannual financial framework (MFF), with due regard for financial transparency, sound management and clear contractual obligations, as should be the case for all funds and programmes; whereas funding for human rights organisations remains limited, fragmented and inconsistent; whereas cuts to this funding, including the freeze on US Agency for International Development (USAID) funds, are having a significant impact on civil society across the EU, as they are seriously weakening civil society’s ability to defend victims of discrimination, promote equality, ensure accountability and safeguard the rule of law and fundamental rights;

AddedAY. whereas in certain cases, EU funds have supported initiatives that contribute to segregation or discriminatory practices, thereby undermining equality objectives; whereas the UN Human Rights Council has called for ensuring that funding for civil society actors is in compliance with Member States’ international human rights obligations and commitments and not misused to hinder the work or endanger the safety of civil society actors;

AddedAZ. whereas the intensifying attempts in the EU to limit or roll back fundamental rights of women and LGBTIQ+ people are of grave concern; whereas these attempts focus mostly on the area of reproductive healthcare and rights, gender identity and legal gender recognition or access to comprehensive sexuality education; whereas attacks on these areas are not only harmful to the most vulnerable members of society but also incompatible with the values of the EU and the international human rights framework, and thus constitute violations of EU law;

AddedBA. whereas at present, there are gaps in EU anti-discrimination legislation, with some grounds of discrimination only covered in the area of employment and occupation; whereas this has led to a patchwork of protection and the creation of an artificial ‘hierarchy of grounds’; whereas the Treaties and the Charter give the EU a mandate and responsibility for combating discrimination in relation to all protected grounds;

AddedBB. whereas all Member States are bound to act in the best interests of the child, including by safeguarding the fundamental right of every child to family life and prohibiting the discrimination of children on the basis of their parents’ marital status or sexual orientation, or the way the child was conceived; whereas around 2 million children may still face a situation in which their parents are not recognised as such in another Member State; whereas in 2022, the Commission proposed a Council 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 (COM/2022/0695) (Parenthood Regulation), which is still pending final decision in the Council;

AddedBC. whereas concerns have been raised regarding the fact that discrimination and racism remain widespread across the EU, including in laws and policies, as well as in public institutions such as law enforcement and the justice system; whereas discriminatory law enforcement practices remain a serious concern; whereas racialised groups are disproportionately targeted by stop-and-search procedures, excessive use of force and harassment; whereas oversight and accountability mechanisms remain weak and are hindered by a lack of independent investigations; whereas, at the same time, violence against public officials must be effectively addressed;

AddedBD. whereas despite formal recognition of structural racism at EU level, it continues to manifest in key areas of life in the Member States; whereas segregation, including in education, and repeated cases of hate speech and hate crime disproportionately affect racialised communities and other marginalised groups, such as LGBTIQ+ persons; whereas these are structural barriers and fundamental rights violations that hinder equal access to rights, opportunities and justice across the Union; whereas this negatively impacts public trust in institutions and social cohesion;

AddedBE. whereas historical injustices, including colonialism, slavery and the Holocaust, continue to shape structural racism in Europe today; whereas acknowledgement, remembrance and education about these injustices are essential to combating racism and promoting equality and fundamental rights;

AddedBF. whereas intersectional discrimination remains largely unaddressed in policy and practice; whereas the compounded impact of racism and gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics, socio-economic status, migration background and other grounds continues to be overlooked, leaving many victims without adequate protection, support or access to effective remedies;

AddedBG. whereas recent surveys conducted by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) among Black people, Jews, Muslims and LGBTIQ+ people in the EU reveal that these groups continue to experience widespread instances of hatred and discrimination in the EU, reflecting systemic racial discrimination; whereas fears, misconceptions and ‘othering’ fuel discrimination and intolerance; whereas ECRI has raised concerns about xenophobic, homophobic and transphobic speech, including from politicians and public officials; whereas every person in the EU has the same right to become a full and active member of society and be treated equally;

AddedBH. whereas recent legislative and institutional reforms in some Member States raise serious questions regarding compliance with the fundamental right to a fair trial and to an independent and impartial tribunal, as guaranteed by Article 47 of the Charter; whereas judicial independence is an indispensable component of the rule of law and a prerequisite for the effective protection of all other fundamental rights; whereas the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has emphasised that judicial councils must remain independent from parliamentary and executive influence;

AddedBI. whereas the Hungarian law on the protection of local identity, which entered into force on 1 July 2025, grants municipal authorities the power to restrict residence based on arbitrary criteria such as education level, language proficiency and proof of employment; whereas such measures risk institutionalising racial segregation in housing and disproportionately affecting the Roma community, raising serious concerns about compliance with EU law and fundamental rights;

AddedBJ. whereas the Roma community continues to face systemic discrimination, segregation, social exclusion and police violence; whereas FRA reports reveal significant shortcomings in the implementation of the EU Roma strategic framework for equality, inclusion and participation, and highlight the low likelihood of achieving its 2030 targets; whereas forced evictions against Roma people have recently resulted in the displacement of hundreds of individuals, including children, elderly people and people with disabilities; whereas the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights has called for the implementation of ECtHR judgments in relation to the rights of Roma people ;

AddedBK. whereas persons with disabilities living in the EU continue to face harassment and multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination in all areas of life, including the denial of reasonable accommodation, socio-economic disadvantages, social isolation, gender-based violence such as forced sterilisation, lack of access to community services, low-quality housing, institutionalisation, inadequate healthcare and denial of the opportunity to contribute to and engage actively in society;

AddedBL. whereas the EU and the Member States that have not yet ratified the Optional Protocol to the UNCRPD should do so without delay;

AddedBM. whereas ECRI has called on governments to actively promote the inclusion of migrants and to combat any discrimination against them; whereas racism and racial discrimination persist, including in the area of migration and asylum; whereas racialised migrants are disproportionately exposed to rights violations at the Union’s borders and within asylum and reception systems; whereas there is a lack of explicit anti-racism safeguards;

AddedBN. whereas the situation of intersex persons in the EU remains largely unknown to the public in the EU; whereas in April 2024, several member states of the Council of Europe sponsored the first UN Human Rights Council Resolution on combating discrimination, violence and harmful practices against intersex people;

AddedBO. whereas the Racial Equality Directive has been insufficiently applied by most Member States; whereas Council Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA on racism and xenophobia has not been fully or correctly transposed by some Member States; whereas stronger efforts are needed to combat structural racism, including the impact of violent right-wing extremist narratives in social debate, and to ensure that Member States comply with EU anti-discrimination legislation;

AddedBP. whereas access to justice for victims of racist hate crimes and other forms of hate crime and discrimination remains severely limited in several Member States due to inadequate support services, barriers to recognising racist and hate motivation, and weak enforcement of anti-discrimination legislation; whereas, as a consequence, racialised communities and other marginalised groups continue to face rights violations without access to effective remedies;

AddedBQ. whereas several Member States have consistently ignored judgments of the ECtHR;

AddedBR. whereas Article 151 TFEU refers to fundamental social rights such as those set out in the European Social Charter; whereas socio-economic inequalities, including poverty and social exclusion, are increasing across the EU and this is a matter of great concern; whereas they remain deeply racialised, with persistent and structural disparities in access to education, healthcare, housing, employment and wealth accumulation, which continue to exclude racialised groups from equal participation in society and perpetuate intergenerational cycles of poverty and marginalisation; whereas housing inequality and the number of homeless people have both increased at an alarming rate in several Member States;

AddedBS. whereas the Commission should look into what steps are needed for accession by the EU to the European Social Charter;

AddedBT. whereas there have been proposals for the Council of Europe and its member states to adopt a protocol to the ECHR, including the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment;

AddedBU. whereas in its KlimaSeniorinnen v. Switzerland judgment, the ECtHR recognised that the failure of states to take adequate measures against climate change may constitute a violation of the right to respect for private and family life under Article 8 of the ECHR; whereas the ruling underlines the urgent need to provide an enforceable right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment within the framework of the ECHR, thereby ensuring consistency, foreseeability and protection for the public;

AddedBV. whereas some Member States published a letter regarding the interpretation of fundamental rights within the framework of the ECHR;

AddedBW. whereas European human rights standards are the rights, principles, and obligations established in the EU Treaties, conventions and EU law, which reflect a shared understanding of minimum levels of protection; whereas international human rights standards are the minimum norms for the protection of human rights that have been formally endorsed by the international community through universal treaties, customary international law and universally accepted principles; whereas such standards bind or guide states in their treatment of individuals;

Fundamental rights at stake

Change 2

Changed1. Urges the Commission and the Member States to respect and promote EU values as enshrined in Article 2 TEU; further urges the Commission to comply with its obligations, such as to systematically conduct thorough fundamental rights impact assessments when preparing and presenting a legislative proposal, to launch infringement procedures where needed and to use fast-track procedures only when strictly necessary;

Change 3

Removed2. Urges the Commission to strengthen the annual reports on the application of the Charter;

Added2. Urges the Commission to strengthen the annual reports on the application of the Charter by providing an EU-wide overview of its application across the EU, including an assessment of compliance with the Charter provisions, recommendations to Member States, and a clearer follow-up on identified fundamental rights challenges;

Removed3. Underlines the need to strengthen monitoring and evaluation mechanisms;

Added3. Expresses concern that divergent national interpretations lead to inadequate application of certain Charter provisions, as highlighted by the FRA Fundamental Rights Report 2025; calls on the Commission to take effective measures to ensure the full and uniform application of the Charter across the EU and on the Member States who have not yet done so to designate national focal points to ensure that national legislation, policies and EU-funded projects are fully Charter-compliant; believes that the EU institutions should be more vocal in denouncing breaches of fundamental rights and in calling on the Member States to take the necessary measures to address them; calls for improved awareness-raising campaigns at EU and national level, including in cooperation with FRA, aimed at enabling individuals to fully understand and exercise their rights;

Added4. Commends the role of FRA in monitoring the situation of fundamental rights in the EU, in supporting policy-makers by providing data, analysis and advice, and in making sure that fundamental rights are respected and promoted in existing and future EU legislation and policy; stresses the need to provide FRA with enhanced human and financial resources to ensure that it can fully and efficiently perform the duties entrusted to it;

Added5. Invites the Commission to continue enhancing the effectiveness and coherence of existing instruments, including monitoring and evaluation mechanisms; acknowledges the crucial role of the horizontal enabling conditions in the Common Provisions Regulation in ensuring the systematic application of the Charter and the alignment of Union programmes both with the Charter and with the EU values enshrined in Article 2 TEU; underlines the need to ensuring enhanced transparency and stakeholder participation;

Democracy under stress

Change 4

Removed4. Reiterates the need to establish an EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights;

Added6. Reiterates that democratic backsliding, attacks on judicial independence and threats to civic space are not isolated incidents but part of a systemic erosion of the rule of law in several Member States, as confirmed by the FRA Fundamental Rights Report 2025 and the Commission’s Rule of Law Report 2025; stresses that these trends undermine mutual trust between Member States and the proper functioning of the internal market;

Removed5. Urges the Member States to combat corruption and to fully comply with GRECO’s recommendations;

Added7. Notes with concern the increasing political interference in the judiciary, the harassment of judges and prosecutors, and the use of disciplinary proceedings to silence independent judicial voices, as documented by FRA and the Council of Europe; recalls that partial or symbolic reforms in several Member States, such as Hungary, cannot replace genuine compliance with judicial independence, effective anti-corruption guarantees and respect for civil society; underlines that these elements are intrinsically linked to the protection of fundamental rights, including the right to an effective remedy, equality before the law and access to justice, as enshrined in Articles 20 and 47 of the Charter;

Removed6. Expresses deep concern about the increasing pressure, political interference and attacks on media and journalism in several Member States, including the lack of independence of public service media;

Added8. Reiterates its call on the Commission and the Council to immediately enter into negotiation with Parliament on an EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in the form of an interinstitutional agreement encompassing all Union values enshrined in Article 2 TEU, including a permanent policy cycle among the EU institutions integrating all existing tools, including the Article 7 TEU procedure, the Rule of Law Framework and Report, the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation, the Common Provisions Regulation and the infringement procedures, into a single, enforceable framework;

Removed7. Deplores the systemic failures in investigating and prosecuting crimes against journalists in several Member States such as Malta, Greece and Slovakia;

Added9. Calls on the Commission to systematically use and rigorously enforce the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation to ensure that EU funds do not contribute to violations of the values enshrined in Article 2 TEU;

Removed8. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure the safety and protection of journalists and media actors and to promote free, independent and pluralistic media; calls on the Commission and the Member States to implement the necessary measures to put an end to all SLAPP cases in the EU;

Added10. Calls on the EU institutions to engage in dialogue with the Council of Europe and national governments to ensure that the protection of fundamental human rights remains effective; recalls that any limitation on the exercise of the rights and freedoms recognised by the Charter must be provided for by law and respect the essence of those rights and freedoms;

Removed9. Shares the opinion of the UN Secretary-General that algorithms should not control what people see and that tech companies should use business models that do not prioritise engagement above human rights;

Added11. Urges the Member States, in particular those with a significant number of unimplemented ECtHR judgments, to accelerate their implementation and to establish transparent national monitoring mechanisms to ensure compliance; calls on the Commission and the Council to strengthen cooperation with the Council of Europe in promoting the effective execution of these judgments;

Removed10. Reiterates its call on the Member States, and in particular on Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Hungary, Poland and Spain, to follow all the recommendations of the Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (PEGA) and the Venice Commission;

Added12. Expresses grave concern over the continued systemic breaches of the values enshrined in Article 2 TEU by Hungary, which has remained under the Article 7(1) TEU procedure since 2018 with no tangible progress; stresses that such a continued erosion of democratic standards and fundamental rights threatens the credibility of the Union as a community of values; deplores the deliberate weakening of judicial independence, media pluralism and academic freedom, the misuse of emergency powers, and the targeting of civil society and LGBTIQ+ persons; notes that the Commission’s 2025 Rule of Law Report and the FRA Fundamental Rights Report 2025 confirm a further deterioration in checks and balances, and widespread corruption and non-compliance with CJEU and ECtHR judgments; urges the Commission and the Member States to initiate the procedure under Article 7(2) TEU; calls on the Council to adopt country-specific recommendations with clear deadlines and measurable benchmarks;

Removed11. Calls for the EU’s accession to the ECHR to be finalised;

Added13. Recalls that the use of discretionary power should be controlled by judicial or other independent reviews; calls on the Member States to establish mechanisms to prevent, correct and sanction abuse of discretionary powers, and to provide sound reasons for their decisions, in particular when they affect the rights of individuals;

RemovedFundamental rights violations at borders

Added14. Recalls that according to the UN standards for law enforcement, non-violent means are to be attempted first by law enforcement authorities; calls, in this regard, on the Member States to comply with the UN standards for law enforcement; recalls that law enforcement authorities are fully accountable for the fulfilment of their duties; underlines the importance of ensuring that investigations into any alleged cases of excessive use of force and discriminatory treatment by law enforcement authorities are transparent, independent and effective; calls on the Commission to introduce EU-wide guidelines for the selection, testing and trialling of the weapons used by law enforcement authorities, based on UN standards, recommendations and guiding principles; calls on the Member States to collect data on all uses of force, and on their causes and consequences;

Removed12. Strongly condemns the widespread fundamental rights violations at borders, including pushbacks, which are becoming a systematic practice in several Member States;

Added15. Is deeply concerned by the increasing level of corruption observed in certain Member States and the emergence of corruption cases involving high-level officials and politicians; urges the Member States to combat corruption and to fully comply with GRECO’s recommendations, including those in its fifth evaluation round on persons with top executive functions and law enforcement agencies, and with recommendations issued by other relevant international and European bodies, including the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), as well as with those stemming from the UN and Council of Europe anti-corruption conventions;

Removed13. Calls for the EU and the Member States to comply with international human rights obligations and commitments and to refrain from adopting migration policies that exacerbate inequality and exclusion;

Added16. Welcomes the Directive on Combating Corruption and calls for ensuring an effective, timely and ambitious implementation to strengthen the fight against corruption;