REPORT on the situation of Fundamental Rights in the European Union - Annual Report for the years 2018 - 2019

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

on the situation of Fundamental Rights in the European Union - Annual Report for the years 2018 - 2019

(2019/2199(INI))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),

– having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,

– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

– having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD),

– having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC),

– having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),

– having regard to the UN Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),

– having regard to the references made in previous reports to the state of fundamental rights in the European Union,

- having regard to Article 20 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which states that everyone is equal before the law,

– having regard to Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which prohibits all forms of discrimination,

– having regard to the obligation for the EU to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights under Article 6(2) TEU,

– having regard to Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin,

– having regard to Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation,

– having regard to Council Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA of 28 November 2008 on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law,

– having regard to Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law,

– having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006 on the application of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters to Community institutions and bodies,

– having regard to its plenary session debate in Strasbourg on the urgent action needed to address homelessness in Europe, that  took place  on 13 January 2020,

– having regard to Principle 19 of the European Pillar of Social Rights, which states that ‘access to social housing or housing assistance of good quality shall be provided for those in need’,

– having regard to Article 31 of the Revised European Social Charter on the Right to Housing,

– 

– having regard to Article 34(3) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’), which affirms the right to social and housing assistance in order to combat social exclusion and poverty,

– having regard to the Commission report of 2019 on in-work poverty[1]

– having regard to the FRA report entitled ‘Combating child poverty: an issue of fundamental rights‘,

– 

– having regard to Resolution 2280 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the situation of migrants and refugees on the Greek island, of 11 April 2019[2],

– having regard to its legislative resolution of 4 April 2019 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)[3],

– having regard to Article 2 of the Revised European Social Charter on the right to just conditions of work,

– having regard to Article 31 of the Charter on fair and just working conditions,

– having regard to the Council recommendation of 9 April 2019 on the economic policy in  the euro area (2019/C 136/01),

– having regard to its resolution of 10 October 2019 on employment and social policies of the euro area[4],

– having regard to the EU Youth Strategy for 2019-2027, based on the Council resolution of 26 November 2018,

– having regard to Directive (EU) 2019/1152 of the European Parliament and  the Council of 20 June 2019 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union,

– having regard to Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and  the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU,

– having regard to the Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA,

– having regard to the report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council entitled "Second report on the progress made in the fight against trafficking in human beings (2018) as required under Article 20 of Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims" (COM(2018)0777),

– having regard to the 8th General Report on GRETA’s Activities[5] and GRETA reports concerning the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings by all the member states[6],

– having regard to the Communication of 28 November 2018 from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the European Investment Bank on ‘A Clean Planet for all: A European strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate-neutral economy’ (COM(2018)0773)[7],

– having regard to Principle 16 of the European Pillar of Social Rights, which stresses the right to timely access to affordable, preventive and curative health care of good quality,

–  having regard to its resolution of 12 April 2016 on the situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic EU approach to migration[8],

– having regard to its resolution of 5 July 2018 on guidelines for Member States to prevent humanitarian assistance from being criminalised[9],

– having regard to its resolution of 3 May 2018 on the protection of children in migration[10],

– having regard to the resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of October 2014 on the alternatives to immigration detention of children (RES 2020),

– having regard to the recommendation of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights of June 2019 entitled ‘Lives saved. Rights protected. Bridging the protection gap for refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean’[11],

– having regard to the 2019 Fundamental Rights Report by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and the update of June 2019 of the FRA note entitled ‘NGO ships involved in search and rescue in the Mediterranean and criminal investigations’[12],

– having regard to its resolution of 5 October 2017 on prison systems and conditions[13],

- having regard to its resolution of 1 June 2017 on combating anti-semitism[14],

-  having regard to its resolution of 15 April 2015 on the occasion of International Roma Day – anti-Gypsyism in Europe and EU recognition of the memorial day of the Roma genocide during World War II[15],

– having regard to its resolution of 11 October 2017 on fundamental rights aspects in Roma integration in the EU: fighting anti-Gypsyism[16],

- having regard to its resolution of 12 February 2019 on the need for a strengthened post–2020 Strategic EU Framework for National Roma Inclusion Strategies and stepping up the fight against anti-Gypsyism[17],

-  having regard to its resolution of 17 September 2020 on the implementation of National Roma Integration Strategies: combating negative attitudes towards people with Romani background in Europe[18]

– having regard to the FRA report entitled ‘Roma women in nine EU countries’,

– having regard to its resolution of 3 May 2018 on media pluralism and media freedom in the European Union[19],

– having regard to its resolution of 7 February 2018 on protection and non-discrimination with regard to minorities in the EU Member States[20],

– having regard to its resolution of 7 July 2016 on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with special regard to the Concluding Observations of the UN CRPD Committee[21],

– having regard to its resolution of 25 October 2018 on the use of Facebook users’ data by Cambridge Analytica and the impact on data protection[22],

– having regard to its resolution of 25 October 2018 on the rise of neo-fascist violence in Europe[23],

– having regard to its resolution of 7 October 2020 on the establishment of an EU Mechanism on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights[24],

– having regard to its legislative resolution of 17 January 2019 on the Protection of the Union's budget in case of generalised deficiencies as regards the rule of law in the Member States[25],

– having regard to the Commission’s Communication on strengthening the rule of law within the Union – a blueprint for action (COM(2019)0343),

- having regard to the Commission communication of 30 September 2020 entitled ‘2020 Rule of Law Report – The rule of law situation in the European Union’ (COM(2020)0580) and its 27 accompanying country chapters on the rule of law in the Member States (SWD(2020)0300-0326), which address the impact of the COVID-19 measures taken by the Member States on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights,

– having regard to its resolution of 8 February 2019 on the rights of intersex people[26],

– having regard to its resolution of 14 February 2019 on the right to peaceful protest and the proportionate use of force[27],

– having regard to its resolution of 26 March 2019 on fundamental rights of people of African descent in Europe[28],

– having regard to its resolution of 14 November 2019 on the criminalisation of sexual education in Poland[29],

– having regard to its resolution of 26 November 2019 on children’s rights on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child[30],

– having regard to its resolution of 13 February 2019 on experiencing backlash in women’s rights and gender equality in the EU[31],

– having regard to Commission Recommendation (EU) 2018/951 on standards for equality bodies,

– having regard to the 2018 Commission Annual Report on the List of actions to advance LGBTI equality,

– having regard to its resolution of 18 December 2019 on public discrimination and hate speech against LGBTI people, including LGBTI free zones[32],

– having regard to its resolution of 30 May 2018 on the implementation of Directive 2012/29/EU establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime[33],

– having regard to its resolution of 16 January 2020 on ongoing hearings under Article 7(1) of the TEU regarding Poland and Hungary[34],

– having regard to the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) of 19 December 2017 in Case A.R. and L.R. v Switzerland (22338/15), which affirmed that comprehensive sexuality education pursues  the legitimate aims of protecting public health,  protecting children from sexual violence, and preparing them for social realities; therefore did not recognise an obligation on the part of Member States to allow  parents to withdraw  their children from such  education,

– having regard to the  ECtHR case  Sh.D. and others v Greece, Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Northern Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia[35] , which affirms that the child’s extreme vulnerability should prevail over irregular status with necessary measures adopted to protect them and that authorities violated Article 5 by automatically applying the protective custody regime without considering any alternatives to detention or the requirement under EU law to avoid the detention of children[36],

– having regard to the resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the  Council of Europe of 3 October 2019 on  obstetrical and gynaecological violence (RES 2306) and the related report of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination of the Council of Europe of 12 September 2019, in which the Assembly calls on the Council of Europe member States to combat gynaecological and obstetrical violence and provides recommendation on how to do so,

- having regard to the Issue Paper entitled "Women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights in Europe" (2017) by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights,

– having regard to  the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Report  following her visit to Hungary from 4 to 8 February 2019[37] ,

–  - having regard to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe resolution 2299 (2019) on Pushback policies and practice in the Council of Europe members[38],

– having regard to the reports by national, European and international NGOs, as well as the reports by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights,

– having regard to the work carried out by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the Council of Europe and the Venice Commission,

– having regard to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and of the ECtHR,

– having regard to the  Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence which opened for signature in Istanbul on 11 May 2011 (‘Istanbul Convention’),

­-  having regard to its resolution of 28 November 2019 on the EU's accession to the Istanbul Convention and other measures to combat gender-based violence[39],

– having regard to the work of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality and the Committee on Petitions,

- having regard to the 2018 annual report of the Commission on the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights[40],

– 

– having regard to the  Fundamental Rights Reports of 2018 and 2019 of FRA[41],

– having regard to the FRA paper "Civil society space: views of organisations" as well as the FRA report "Challenges facing civil society organisations working on human rights in the EU",

– having regard to Rule 54 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the opinions of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and the Committee on Petitions,

– having regard to the position in the form of amendments of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A9-0226/2020),

A. whereas the EU is not merely a monetary union, but also a social one, as enshrined in  the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Social Charter and the European Pillar of Social Rights; whereas Article 151 TFEU refers to fundamental social rights such as those set out in the European Social Charter; whereas the EU is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities, as set out in Article 2 TEU and as reflected in the Charter and embedded in international human rights treaties; whereas the Charter is part of EU primary law; whereas the Union has still not acceded to the ECHR, in spite of its obligation to do so under Article 6(2) TEU;

B. whereas these values are shared by all the Member States and should be upheld and actively promoted by the EU and each Member State individually in all their policies, both internally and externally in a consistent way; whereas respect for the rule of law is a prerequisite for the protection of fundamental rights and whereas Member States have the ultimate responsibility for safeguarding the human rights of all people;

C. whereas Article 17 of the TEU states that the Commission must ensure the application of the Treaties; whereas a refusal by a Member State to fully uphold EU law, the separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary and the predictability of state actions is undermining the credibility of the EU; whereas an independent judiciary, freedom of expression and information and media pluralism are crucial components of the rule of law;

D. whereas in the years 2018 and 2019, the EU has faced serious and multifaceted challenges in relation to the protection of fundamental rights, the rule of law and democracy, which are all intrinsically connected; whereas the European Commission Special Eurobarometer of March 2019 shows that awareness of the Charter remains low; whereas according to the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, in 2018 not only human rights violations were found across the EU, but also the rejection of human rights protection systems as a whole[42];

E. whereas better promotion of the Charter is needed, for example by means of campaigns promoting awareness, in order to render its provisions more effective and promote it as positive source of interpretation; whereas greater exchange of information on experiences and approaches to the use of the Charter between judges, lawyers’ associations and public administrations within the Member States, as well as beyond national borders, including through the use, where appropriate, of existing funding instruments, such as those provided for in the Justice Programme, as well as targeted training programmes for legal practitioners, could be beneficial;

F. whereas corruption constitutes a serious threat to democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights and harms all Member States and the EU as a whole; whereas the implementation of the anti-corruption legal framework remains uneven among Member States;

G. whereas the increase in precarious employment, as well as youth unemployment is deeply concerning and may lead to long lasting negative impacts on the rights enshrined in Article 31 of the Charter;

H. whereas children’s rights are enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; whereas the best interests of the child should be a crucial consideration in all EU action and the principle of the best interest of the child should be fully respected in all legislation, court and government decision at all levels; whereas Member States should ensure the right to education for all children in the EU and protect them from any discrimination;

I. whereas gender based violence in all its forms, including harassment and violence in the workplace, at home and online, is a violation of fundamental rights which affects all levels of society, regardless of age, education, income, social position and country of origin or residence, and represents a major barrier to equality between women and men; whereas as many as 11 Member States do not provide data on women victims of intentional homicide by an intimate partner or family member[43];

J. whereas the ECtHR has established that various types of environmental degradation can result in violations of human rights, such as the right to life, to private and family life, the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment, and the peaceful enjoyment of the home[44]; whereas environmental injustices are regularly related to health risks and negative consequences for wellbeing, and certain communities and groups, including socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, as well as black people and people of colour and ethnic minorities, are disproportionately affected by environmental burdens;

K. whereas access to justice is a fundamental right and impunity represents a significant obstacle for the recovery and protection of victims;

L. whereas there has been an organised backlash against women’s and girl’s rights in recent years, where some Member States have sought to roll back on sexual and reproductive health and rights, such as existing legal protections for women’s access to abortion care, including the introduction of regressive pre-conditions before abortions can take place, such as mandatory biased counselling or waiting periods, not ensuring that barriers that impede access to abortion in practice are eradicated, as well as attempts to fully ban abortion or remove existing legal grounds for abortion; Whereas in some Member States there have been attempts limit or ban sex education and gender studies and to promote campaigns against the Istanbul Convention which deny the existence of gender-based violence; whereas the backlash against women’s rights and gender equality is often linked to a broader deterioration in the situation of democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights;

M. whereas cases of gynaecological and obstetrical violence have been increasingly denounced in several Member States[45] ; whereas the rights of women in all their diversity are protected under the Treaty, including Roma women, black women and women of colour, LGBT women and women with disabilities; whereas Roma women are particularly affected as regards women’s rights and often face exacerbated forms of verbal, physical, psychological and racial harassment in reproductive health care settings; whereas Roma have also experienced ethnic segregation in maternal health care facilities, and are placed in segregated rooms with segregated bathrooms and eating facilities; whereas in some Member States Roma have been subjected to systematic practices of forced and coercive sterilisation and have been unable to obtain adequate reparations, including compensation, for the resulting violations of their human rights;

N. Whereas the EU has witnessed spread of racism, intolerance, extremism, xenophobia, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic and anti-Roma sentiments which have become normalised in certain Member States and are embraced by opinion leaders and politicians across the EU, fostering a social climate that provides fertile ground for racism, discrimination and hate crimes; whereas Muslims, including Muslim women, continue to experience widespread hostility and intolerance in many EU countries[46];  whereas the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights pointed out in its 2019 report that discriminatory institutional practices, policies and laws exist in many countries; whereas the fight against terrorism and counter-terrorism policies should not lead to general discrimination  against  certain communities; whereas the FRA created in December 2018 the first dedicated data-base on anti-Muslim hatred; whereas Anti-Semitism appears to be on the rise, as demonstrated by the report of 4 July 2019 by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency,  with several Member States reporting increases in crimes motivated by anti-Semitism; whereas  ethnic and religious minorities often face verbal, physical, psychological and racial harassment; whereas the development of education and training to foster critical thinking, to give tools to identify all forms of discrimination and intolerance and promote digital literacy, is crucial;

O. whereas the increased resort of states to new technology, such as predictive policing and the use of facial recognition, presents a number of risks, in particular for racial minorities in Europe;

P. whereas there is a serious backlash of LGBTI-rights, even to the extent that "LGBTI-free zones" have been introduced[47] in one Member State;

Q. whereas the EU and the Member States have shared competencies in the area of housing; whereas both a national and an EU level strategy is needed; whereas homelessness is a situation that deprives individuals of human rights, and is itself a violation of human rights; whereas there is atrend of rising evictions and homelessness across the EU[48];(AM 131)

R. whereas affordable housing is in short supply in Europe today, in spite of increasing demand; whereas annual overviews published by the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA) found evidence of rising homelessness in almost all the EU/EEA; the 2018 FEANTSA report noted that children are becoming the largest group of people in emergency shelters as a result of a deterioration in the living conditions of extremely vulnerable families[49];

S. whereas freedom of expression and freedom and pluralism of the media are enshrined in Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR); whereas an independent judiciary, freedom of expression and information and media pluralism are crucial components of the rule of law and are vital to the democratic functioning of the EU and its Member States;

T. whereas the number of threats and attacks against journalists has increased across the EU[50]; whereas the OSCE reports that impunity prevails as, for example, fewer than 15 % of murders of journalists in the OSCE region are solved (Media freedom report); whereas this is a clear deterioration regarding the protection of journalists, which undermines media freedom and freedom of expression, putting democracy at risk;

U. whereas Parliament’s resolution on media pluralism and media freedom in the EU stressed that Member States and the Commission should refrain from adopting unnecessary or disproportionate measures that limit access to the internet and the exercise of fundamental human rights, or that entail seizing control of public communications through the arbitrary imposition of a state of emergency or on other grounds; whereas these laws sometimes use vague and imprecise wording, thus giving a wide margin of discretion to law enforcement authorities when it comes to implementation, and increasing the risks of arbitrary restrictions to the right to freedom of peaceful assembly;

V. whereas in 2018 and 2019 it has been proven that some major social media companies, in violation of existing data protection law, have granted third-party applications access to users personal data, and that personal data has been increasingly abused for behavioural prediction and manipulation, including for electoral campaigning purposes; whereas in light of the constant development of technology, interferences with fundamental rights  can be seriously high; whereas various information systems can have impacts on fundamental rights, such as data protection and breaches of privacy;

W. whereas whistle-blowers play an essential role in any open and transparent democracy; whereas whistle-blowers are instrumental in promoting transparency, democracy and the rule of law, by reporting unlawful or improper conduct that undermine the public interest such as acts of corruption, criminal offences or conflicts of interest, which represent threats against citizens’ rights and freedoms;

X. whereas Article 11 of the ECHR and Article 12 of the Charter state that everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of their interests; whereas in democratic societies, freedom of assembly is one of the instruments by which people can participate in the public debate and bring about social change;

Y. whereas acting police officers must always be identifiable in order to enable the investigations of possible excesses of use of force and national authorities must determine the associated responsibilities; whereas Member States have different thresholds for the use of force and weapons by law enforcement authorities for maintaining public order; whereas several Member States[51], have adopted laws that could lead to disproportionate restrictions of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly;

Z. whereas the space for civil society is shrinking in certain Member States; whereas Member States are responsible for ensuring that the rights of civil society organisations and human rights defenders are not restricted, and that a conducive legislative and regulatory environment is in place, as reinforced in the recently adopted Council conclusions on the Charter of Fundamental Rights after 10 Years: State of Play and Future Work; whereas Member States should also support the work of civil society organisations through sufficient funding and ensure that there are mechanisms for fruitful cooperation with them;

AA. whereas State and non-state sponsored campaigns to discredit human rights defenders and civil society organisations aim through their strategies to overturn existing laws on basic fundamental rights; whereas these campaigns have often been echoed by traditional media and social networks, while those who defend migrants and asylum seekers, the LGBTI+ community, survivors of gender-based violence, people of faith and religionand other marginalised groups continue to be criminalised and stigmatised;

AB. whereas, according to the IOM, 1885 persons in 2019 and 2299 persons in 2018 are believed to have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Europe  ; whereas the route from Libya to Europe is still the migration route with the highest death toll in the world (646 deaths so far in 2019) and was five times deadlier in 2018 than in 2015 notably due to a reduction in search and rescue (SAR) activities off the Libyan coast[52]; whereas saving lives is an act of solidarity with those at risk, but first and foremost a legal obligation under both international law, as Article 98 of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) – ratified by all Member States and the Union itself – requires States to render assistance to any person in distress at sea, and Union law[53];

AC. whereas the criminalisation of solidarity continued to be used as a tool to disrupt the work of NGOs trying to save lives in the Mediterranean Sea; whereas individuals faced charges related to assistance they provided to migrants and asylum seekers in several EU countries, , demonstrating the worrying trend of criminalizing humanitarian assistance to migrants and asylum seekers;

AD. whereas the EU has an obligation under EU and international law to receive and process the applications of those who come to the EU seeking asylum; whereas pushbacks constitute a violation of EU and international law and prevent asylum seekers from benefiting from the legal guarantees firmly laid down in such law; whereas the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights expressed grave concern about consistent reports of violent pushbacks;

AE. whereas migration is part of the EU’s past, present and future and one of the biggest challenges of our times that has clear implications on fundamental rights; whereas applicants for asylum have the right and possibility to submit their asylum applications at official border crossings when entering the EU; whereas there have been allegations of violation of fundamental rights of migrants and asylum seekers; whereas border officials need to provide adequate services to refugees, taking into account the special circumstances of vulnerable people, such as children, traumatised people and pregnant women;

AF. whereas according to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, in 2018 women accounted for 18 % of all irregular entries across the external EU border and nearly one in five migrants were registered as children, with some 3,750 being unaccompanied; whereas these women and children are particularly vulnerable to abuses of their fundamental rights, such human trafficking; whereas there is a need for Member States to build and strengthen child protection systems to prevent and respond to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of children;

AG. whereas Member States should ensure that migrant and refugee children are granted access education swiftly after their arrival in the European Union territory;

AH. whereas acts of terrorism constitute one of the most serious violations of fundamental rights and freedoms; whereas during 2018 and 2019, acts of glorification of terrorism and homages to the terrorists took place within the European Union; whereas this kind of acts legitimizes terrorism, threatens our democracy and humiliates the victims;

Economic and social rights

1. Recognises that the EU plays an important role in preventing poverty and social exclusion in the Member States; stresses the importance for the EU and its Member States to work out specific programmes aimed at ending child poverty, as special consideration must be given to the particular detrimental impact of poverty on the social, psychological and physical development of children; and the health implications for future adult generations; stresses that children are at a disproportionate risk of social and economic exclusion and experience the violation of their fundamental rights due to abuse, violence, exploitation, poverty, and all forms of social exclusion; stresses that poverty is by itself a form of social injustice, which is grounded in gender inequalities, discrimination and unequal chances to access goods and services; calls on the Commission and the Council to consider fundamental rights while making economic policy proposals and to ensure that human rights impact assessments are conducted in conjunction with any decisions on their adoption, in order to assess any potential adverse impacts on human rights; calls on the Member States to guarantee access to health care, quality education and housing on an equal footing for all;

2. Stresses that major reductions of government spending on public services have had serious effects on inequalities, which  have deeply impacted the social fabric of the EU in many Member States and that this continues today-  exacerbating already widening inequalities and breaching fundamental rights – and affects in particular women, people with disabilities, the elderly, children, migrants, Roma, Travellers, LGBTI+ people, and people in other disadvantaged groups; reiterates that macroeconomic policies must be guided not only by economic growth but also by social standards, in order to ensure that the most vulnerable in society can fully enjoy their social, political and economic rights; stresses that equal access and opportunities for quality education and employment have a critical role in helping to alleviate inequality and lifting people out of poverty; acknowledges the importance of workers’ rights, such as maternity and paternity leave, which help provide a healthy, stable environment for children; calls on Member States to adopt laws to safeguard and strengthen such rights, that contribute to families’ social and economic stability; calls on the Member States to ensure appropriate working conditions and protection against economic exploitation and discrimination,  especially for those groups who are most vulnerable to experiencing such inequalities, such as young people; calls on the Member States to strengthen implementation of the Youth Guarantee; ensuring that all young people have access to high quality employment, educational, and training opportunities, and that such offers are evenly distributed among Member States and regions; calls on Member States to fully implement the Employment Equality Directive, in order to ensure equal access to employment opportunities, regardless of religious belief, age, disability and sexual orientation;;

3. Stresses that housing is not merely a commodity, but a necessity, as citizens who are deprived of it cannot participate fully in society or access all their fundamental rights; is concerned by the fact that young people in particular are being priced out of housing and deplores cases of discrimination by landlords and policies which cut housing benefits for young people; is alarmed that up to one third of all homeless people in most EU Member States are aged 18-29; calls on the Commission and the Member States to integrate the recommendations made by the Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner in her comment of 23 January 2020 entitled ‘The right to affordable housing: Europe’s neglected duty’, particularly the recommendation that all Member States should promptly accept to be bound by  Article 31 of the revised European Social Charter on the right to housing; calls on Member States to place the right to adequate housing for citizens among their priorities of social policies and step up investment in social and affordable housing to combat the housing cost overburden, particularly to protect disadvantaged and vulnerable groups; calls on the Commission to duly investigate discrimination in access to housing as prohibited under the Racial Equality Directive and launch infringement proceedings in case of violations;

4. Highlights Article 37 of the Charter, which affirms that measures towards achieving a high level of environmental protection and the improvement of the quality of the environment must be integrated into the policies of the Union; emphasises the urgent need of including relevant environmental concerns into the decision-making process of all policies and initiatives and believes that sustainability must be the guiding principle for all macroeconomic policies to ensure the just transition to an environmentally sustainable economy, while protecting and creating sustainable employment; and in order to deal with one of the most significant threats facing humanity; calls for the EU wide implementation of the Aarhus Convention that links environmental rights and human rights; highlights that environmental impairment and the failure of some public authorities to provide information about serious environmental risks to which individuals are exposed, may have severe harmful consequences for individuals;;

Right to equal treatment

5. Reiterates that women and girls must have control over their bodies and sexualities; calls on all the Member States to guarantee comprehensive sexuality education, ready access for women and girls to family planning, and the full range of sexual and  reproductive  health services, including modern contraceptive methods and safe and legal abortion;

6. Condemns the present visible and organised backlash at global and European level against gender equality and women’s rights, including sexual and reproductive health and rights; strongly affirms that the denial of sexual and reproductive health and rights services is a form of violence against women and girls and stresses that the ECtHR has ruled on different occasions that restrictive abortion laws and preventing access to legal abortion violates the human rights of women; reiterates that the refusal by medical professionals to provide the full range of reproductive and sexual health services on personal grounds must not infringe on the right of women or girls to access reproductive care; calls on the Commission to include the need to uphold sexual and reproductive health and rights in its Fundamental Rights Strategy;

7. Strongly condemns the alarming number of femicides in the EU, which is the most extreme form of violence against women; regrets the lack of available data in some Member States which reflects the lack of recognition of the problem; calls on the Council to urgently conclude the EU ratification of the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, on the basis of a broad accession, without any limitation; urges the Council and those Member States who have not done so yet to conclude the ratification of the Istanbul Convention;

8. Strongly condemns all forms of sexual, gynaecological and obstetrical violence against women, such as inappropriate or non-consensual acts, painful interventions without anaesthetic, female genital mutilations, forced abortion, forced sterilisation and forced surrogacy;

9. Strongly condemns the ethnic segregation of Roma women in maternal health care facilities; calls on the Member States to immediately prohibit all forms of ethnic segregation in health facilities, including maternal health care settings; calls on the Member States to ensure effective and timely remedies for all survivors of forced and coercive sterilisation, including through the establishment of effective compensation schemes;

10.  Condemns hate crime and hate speech, as well as discrimination based on any grounds such as race, colour, ethnic or social origin, language, religion or belief, political opinion, minority status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sexual characteristics sexual characteristics; reiterates the concern that online hate speech remains a prevalent and pressing issue; warns against the increasing levels and normalisation of hate speech and different forms of racism, such as islamophobia, antigypsyism, antisemitism and against black people and people of colour in many Member States, boosted by the rise of extremist movements and their rhetoric, and by government representatives or political leaders in certain Member States, who use hateful discourse, by spreading racist, xenophobic, anti-LGBTI rhetoric; expresses its concern at the lack of reporting of hate crimes by victims owing to inadequate safeguards and to the failure of authorities to investigate properly and obtain convictions for hate crimes in the Member States; emphasises the need to encourage and facilitate victims to report hate crimes or discrimination, and to give them full protection and support; recalls that Member States should ensure that hate crime and hate speech is effectively recorded, investigated, prosecuted and tried; calls on the Commission and the FRA to continue their work on monitoring hate crime and hate speech in the Member States, and to report regularly on cases and tendencies;

11. Recalls the obligation for the EU institutions and agencies to fully uphold, with regard to all citizens, the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion and the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion or belief, including philosophical beliefs, in public and in private; calls on the Member States to protect freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief and to effectively implement the EU Guidelines on its promotion and protection;

12. Calls on the Member States to ensure the full implementation of the Race Equality Directive (2000/43/EC) in order to combat persisting racism against black people and people of colour, transphobia, antigypsyism, antisemitism and islamophobia; condemns the fact that racial, ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities face structural racism, discrimination, hate-crime and hate-speech, a lack of access to justice, and sustained socio-economic inequalities in areas such as housing, healthcare, employment and education, which need to be acknowledged as major barriers to full enjoyment of fundamental rights and key barriers to inclusion and equality;

13. Calls for the quick adoption of the proposed 2008 Equal Treatment Directive, which is still awaiting approval by the Council, in order to close the current protection gap in the EU legal framework concerning non-discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, religion or belief, or sexual orientation in key areas of life, such as social protection, education and access to goods and services; calls on the Commission to actively fight segregation and discrimination, including by initiating infringement procedures to foster the effective application of the Framework Decision on combating certain forms of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law; recalls that these measures should be accompanied by proper national integration strategies;

14. Recalls that the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) aims to ensure equal opportunities regarding accessibility, participation, equality, employment, education and training, social protection, health, and EU external action; underlines that persons with disabilities are still disadvantaged and discriminated against regarding employment, education and social inclusion; stresses in this regard the importance of accessibility in public spaces, a minimum percentage for employment of persons with disabilities, guarantees of inclusive education, including access to initiatives such as Erasmus +, with particular attention to children with disabilities;

Freedoms

15. Calls on Member States to protect and develop a vibrant, independent, pluralist and free media sector; condemns in this respect any measures aimed at silencing critical media and undermining media freedom and pluralism, including in sophisticated ways that do not typically lead to an alert being submitted to the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists; expresses concern about the creation of government-controlled bodies which manage large parts of a country’s media landscape and the hijacking of public service media outlets to serve partisan interests; recalls that where media ownership remains highly concentrated, whether in government or private hands, it constitutes a significant risk to the diversity of information and viewpoints represented in media content; recalls that freedom of expression and information, including the freedom of artistic expression, and media freedom are fundamental to democracy and the rule of law and urges Member States to guarantee the independence of their media authorities; recalls that the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media, is a component of the freedom of artistic expression[54];;

16. Recalls the fundamental role of investigative journalism in acting as a watchdog in a democratic society, strengthening public oversight of political actors, including in the domain of corruption; condemns the persistence and increase in many Member States of violence, threats and intimidation against journalists, including in relation to the disclosure of information about breaches of fundamental rights, which often leads to self-censorship and undermines citizens’ right to information; requests the Commission to put forward a proposal for strong and comprehensive mechanisms to protect and strengthen freedom of speech, media freedom and enhance the protection of journalists, including by guaranteeing the transparency of media-ownership, adopting an EU-wide anti-SLAPP directive, creating a permanent EU fund for independent media and investigative journalists and establishing a rapid reaction mechanism for journalists in danger; calls on the Member States to prevent and penalise attacks on investigative journalists in the exercise of their work;

17. Emphasises the particularly important role of whistle-blowers in safeguarding the public interest and in promoting a culture of public accountability and integrity in both public and private institutions; Calls on Member States to fully transpose into national law the provisions of Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law as a matter of urgency so as to maximise its effects as soon as it enters into force; encourages Member States to complement such measures to also protect whistle-blowers in cases when they report breaches outside the scope of EU law;

18. Expresses its concern about the threat that different forms of propaganda and misinformation pose to freedom of speech and expression and to the independence of the media, and the negative effects they might have on the quality of political debate and on the participation of citizens in democratic societies; calls on the Commission to promote and invest in the strengthening of media literacy, actively support quality journalism and foster data protection and create a more transparent online ecosystem while safeguarding media freedom and pluralism;

19. Stresses that political profiling, disinformation and manipulation of information represent a threat to the EU’s democratic values; calls on the Commission and the Member States to contribute to the development of education and training in critical thinking that citizens can form their own opinion to face these risks;

20.  Stresses that law enforcement officials must respect and protect human dignity and maintain and uphold the human rights of all persons while performing their duty; stresses that the foremost task of police forces is to ensure the safety of citizens, and to ensure protests are conducted in peaceful manner; Condemns the use of violent and disproportionate interventions by law enforcement authorities during peaceful demonstrations; calls on the Member States to ensure that any use of force by law enforcement authorities is always lawful, proportionate, necessary and the last resort, and that it preserves human life and physical integrity; calls on the relevant national authorities, in cases when the use of disproportionate force is suspected or has been alleged, to ensure a transparent, impartial, independent and effective investigation, and avoid impunity; recalls that law enforcement agencies are fully accountable for the fulfilment of their duties and their compliance with the relevant legal and operational frameworks;

21. Strongly condemns the increasing restrictions on freedom of assembly, including during election periods; calls on Member States to refrain from adopting restrictive laws concerning freedom of assembly and encourages the EU and its Member States to take further steps to safeguard and protect freedom of assembly, as a fundamental right and as basic principles of democratic processes; calls on the Commission to take an active role in promoting these rights in line with international human rights standards;

22. Recalls the essential role at local, regional, national, EU and international levels that civil society plays in representing the interest of citizens; in strengthening the voices of those minorities which are not properly represented; and in defending and promoting the principles enshrined in Article 2 TEU; stresses the need to ensure an enabling environment for civil society organisations, where they can operate free from attacks and without unnecessary or arbitrary restriction.

23.  Is deeply concerned about the increasingly shrinking space for independent civil society in some Member States, in particular for women's rights organisations, LGBTI organisations and human rights defenders, including unreasonable administrative burdens, decreasing financial support for conducting advocacy, as well as restrictions on freedom of assembly and organisation; condemns the restrictions in access to funding of civil society organisations which, in some Member States, has a more systemic aspect in the form of legal and policy changes and are severely affecting their work and legal standing; calls upon the European Commission and the Council to increase EU support for civil society organisations defending the values of Article 2 TUE in the European Union through the Rights and Values Programme, the funding of which should be significant, as asked by the European Parliament;

24. Insists that regular and comprehensive monitoring and analysis are crucial to understand the challenges faced by civil society across Europe; calls on the European Commission to include relevant indicators related to civic space, freedom of expression and freedom of association in future annual rule of law reports, to propose a plan of action to protect and promote civil society, including the adoption of Guidelines for the protection of freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of peaceful assembly as well as the protection of human rights defenders at risk and to establish an emergency fund for their protection; welcomes the proposal for a revision of Council Regulation (EC) No 168/2007 of 15 February 2007 establishing a European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and stresses the need to strengthen and enlarge its mandate following a thorough impact assessment; encourages the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament to systematically use the data produced by FRA in policy making;

25. Recognises the serious issues that can arise within prevalent Eurosceptic communities, particularly those which are paired with violent political views, and urges the EU and the Member States to encourage the active participation of EU citizens in EU matters, particularly amongst young people, so that their opinions can be voiced through democratic channels;

26. Emphasises the important roles which civic education and intercultural dialogue play in improving EU citizens´ understanding of their political participation; encourages the education of EU citizens of their rights;

27. Notes that new techniques for the collection and processing of personal data for the purposes of behavioural prediction and manipulation have an increasing impact on the fundamental rights of billions of people in the EU and around the globe, particularly the rights to privacy, data protection, information, and media freedom and pluralism; in that regard, urges private actors and competent authorities to ensure the full application of EU data protection law and privacy law, and to ensure that individuals understand when and how their personal data is processed and for what purposes, and how they can object to data processing and file complaints, in order to protect their right to personal data protection and privacy;

28. Calls on the European Commission to launch infringement procedures against Member States whose laws implementing the invalidated Data Retention Directive have not been repealed to bring them into line with the CJEU case law[55];

29. Highlights the potential dangers to fundamental freedoms and security with regards to the use of new technologies, especially artificial intelligence (AI) systems, including the risks related to the right to protection of personal data and privacy, bioethical concerns related to the use of AI in health care, possible direct and indirect discrimination and biases, potentially exacerbating prejudice and marginalisation and spreading of disinformation; points out that biases in datasets, and in the design and operation of these systems, may lead to biased outputs, particularly when used by law enforcement authorities, which may lead to these systems reproducing existing societal, personal and other biases, and may result in discrimination based on social, economic, ethnic, racial, sexual orientation, gender, disability status or other factors; emphasises that further safeguards are needed to ensure privacy and data protection in light of the development of new technologies, and that any implications for fundamental rights must be considered; calls on the EU institutions and the Member States to address the emerging “digital gap”, particularly in the areas of public administration and services; stresses that elderly people, together with those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged are some of the most affected groups by the “digital gap”; stresses that the approach to AI should be “human-centred” and ensure that human values are central to the way in which AI systems are developed, deployed, used and monitored, by ensuring respect for fundamental rights set out in the Treaties and the Charter; calls on the Commission to put forward legislative proposals for a coordinated European approach to AI, drawing on Ethics guidelines for trustworthy AI prepared by the Commission's High-Level Expert Group on AI (AI HLEG);

30. Welcomes initiatives and actions which aim at strengthening security cooperation between Member States and to set out an effective EU response to terrorism and security threats in the European Union; urges the Member States to fully cooperate with each other, and to improve the exchange of information among each other and with EU Justice and Home Affairs agencies; highlights the importance of respecting fundamental rights in the fight against terrorism; stresses the importance that oversight mechanisms in the field of intelligence services should be in line with the Charter and the ECHR; calls on the institutions concerned to provide safeguards to prevent any subsequent victimisation derived from humiliation and attacks on the image of the victims coming from social sectors related to the attacker;

Fundamental rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees

31. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to implement the Recommendation of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights of June 2019 entitled ‘Lives saved. Rights protected. Bridging the protection gap for refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean’; reiterates that safe and legal pathways for migration are the best way of avoiding loss of life; urges Member States to intensify resettlement measures, put in place humanitarian corridors to the EU, and introduce the possibility to apply for  humanitarian visas for asylum-seekers;

32. Expresses grave concern about consistent reports of violent pushbacks by law enforcement officials in some Member States; calls on the Commission and the Member States to investigate the matter and take effective measures to ensure that such policies and practices are scrapped, including by ensuring the independent monitoring of border control activities by existing national human rights institutions (Ombudsman institutions, NHRIs, NPMs),  supported by EU and  international bodies (Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, CPT, ECRI, FRA) and ensuring that EU funding is not being used to perpetrate fundamental rights violations; calls on the Commission and the Member States to respect international and EU law, as well as the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union to provide a broad framework to enable orderly migration and avoid forcing migrants to use irregular migration channels;

33. Condemns the fact that some Member States have adopted laws, policies and practices that undermine the effective protection of the human rights of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, on land and at sea; calls on the European Commission and Member States to put the human rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, as well as the principle of responsibility sharing, at the centre of its migration and asylum policies; Expresses grave concern over the humanitarian situation in hotspots; Calls on the Commission to propose an urgent solution to resolve the flagrant human rights violations in reception centres for refugees and migrants on European soil;

34. Stresses that the saving of lives is a legal obligation under international law and EU law; condemns the intimidation, arrests and criminal proceedings initiated in some Member States against civil society organisations and individuals for providing humanitarian assistance to migrants, whose lives are at risk; calls on Member States to ensure that acts of humanitarian assistance are not criminalised in line with the UN Smuggling Protocol;

35. Stresses that undocumented migrants should be able to fully enjoy their basic fundamental rights, no matter what their legal or administrative status is; recalls that women and children may find themselves forced into sexual activities in order to seek protection or basic support to survive, and that this is often due to gaps in assistance, failures of registration systems and of compliance with the principle of the best interests of the child, family separation or the absence of safe and legal means of entry into the EU;

36. Highlights that almost a third of asylum seekers are children and are therefore particularly vulnerable; calls on the EU and its Member States to step up their efforts to prevent unaccompanied minors from becoming victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation;

37. Reiterates that immigration detention of children is never in the child’s best interest in line with the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants; calls on the EU and the Member States to step up action to end the detention of children, particularly in the context of migration across the EU, and to work out community-based alternatives to detention, as well as prioritising integration, education and psychological support; stresses that an unaccompanied child is above all a child who is potentially in danger and that child protection, rather than migration policies, must be the leading principle for Member States and the European Union when dealing with them, thus respecting the core principle of the child’s best interests.

Rule of law and fight against corruption

38. Reiterates that corruption is a serious threat to democracy, the rule of law and fair treatment for all citizens; highlights the link between corruption and fundamental rights violations in a number of areas such as the independence of the judiciary, media freedom and freedom of expression of journalists and whistle-blowers, detention facilities, access to social rights, or trafficking of human beings[56];

39. Calls on the EU institutions and the Member States to resolutely fight corruption, and to devise effective instruments for preventing, combating and sanctioning corruption, and fighting fraud, as well as regularly monitoring the use of public funds; calls on the Commission to immediately resume its annual anti-corruption monitoring and reporting, with reference to the EU institutions and the Member States; calls on all the Member States to comply with the GRECO recommendations;

40. Stresses that organised crime is primarily enabled by corruption; strongly condemns the increase in the trafficking of human beings and urges the Member States and the EU institutions to increase cooperation and step up their fight against organised crime;

41. Reaffirms Parliament’s support for the rapid establishment of an efficient, independent and fully operational European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in order to strengthen the fight against fraud in the European Union;

42. Underlines that the rule of law is a cornerstone of democracy, maintains the separation of powers, ensures accountability, contributes to trust in public institutions and guarantees the principles of legality, legal certainty, prohibition of arbitrariness of the executive powers, judicial independence, impartiality, and equality before the law; stresses that the rule of law and judicial independence in particular are critical for citizens’ ability to enjoy their fundamental rights and freedoms; points out that under Article 47 of the Charter, the fundamental right to an effective remedy requires access to an ‘independent’ tribunal; highlights that political influence or control of the judiciary and similar barriers to the independence of individual judges have often resulted in the judiciary being unable to fulfil its role as an independent check on the arbitrary use of power by the executive and legislative branches of government; condemns the use of the judicial system for political purposes, which seek to damage, delegitimize and silence political dissent;

43. Recalls the intrinsic link that exists between the rule of law and fundamental rights and the need to increase awareness of the values enshrined in Article 2 TEU and the Charter by providing information about citizens’ rights;

44. Strongly condemns the efforts of the governments of some Member States to weaken the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary; expresses its deep concern, in particular, about decisions which call into question the primacy of European law and calls on the Commission to use all available means to take action against these attacks;

45. Calls on the Commission to address in a timely manner all Article 2 TEU violations, in particular those affecting fundamental rights, in the framework of its announced rule of law review cycle; reiterates the critical need for an EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights as proposed by Parliament, including an annual independent, evidence-based and non-discriminatory review assessing all Member States' compliance with Article 2 TEU; highlights that Article 2 TEU violations undermine mutual trust among the Member States and make cross-border judicial cooperation untenable;

46. Regrets the lack of progress in the ongoing Article 7 proceedings in the Council despite reports and statements by the Commission, the UN, the OSCE and the Council of Europe indicating that the situation in the Member States concerned has deteriorated; calls on the Council to take into consideration the situation of fundamental rights, democracy and the rule of law in its hearings on Article 7.1 procedure; reminds that the European Parliament cannot be set aside from these ongoing hearings;

47. Calls on the Commission and the Council to make full use of all the tools at their disposal to address risks of serious breaches of the rule of law and to move forward with the on-going Article 7 procedures; points out that the ineffectiveness of the EU’s action to protect fundamental rights endangers the entirety of EU law and citizens’ rights based thereon and weakens the EU’s credibility;

Prison conditions

48. Is alarmed by substandard prison conditions in certainMember States; calls on the Member States to comply with the rules on detention derived from the instruments of international law and Council of Europe standards; recalls that pre-trial detention is intended to be an exceptional measure, to be used only in cases where it is strictly necessary, proportionate, and for the shortest possible period of time and regrets the continued overuse of pre-trial detention instead of alternative measures which do not involve the deprivation of liberty; recalls that vulnerable groups of prisoners such as women, juveniles, ethnic minorities, LGBTI prisoners, prisoners with mental healthcare needs or seriously ill prisoners have particular needs, which must be taken into account; calls on the Commission to adopt common EU standards on prison conditions in order to protect the rights of prisoners and promote detention standards in the EU;

EU accession to the ECHR

49. Recalls the obligation laid down in article 6 TEU to accede to the ECHR; calls the Commission to take the necessary steps to eliminate the legal barriers that prevent the conclusion of the accession process, and to present a new draft agreement for the accession of the EU to the ECHR; considers that its completion would introduce further safeguards protecting the fundamental rights of EU citizens and residents and provide an additional mechanism for enforcing human rights, namely the possibility of lodging a complaint with the ECtHR in relation to a violation of human rights derived from an act by an EU institution or a Member State implementing EU law, falling within the remit of the ECHR;

50. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.