Debate: Situation of fundamental rights in the EU in  and
Date: WEDNESDAY, 17 JANUARY 2024
Speaker: Didier Reynders
Language: FR

Firstly, on the rule of law and access to justice, a central element of our action in this area is the annual Rule of Law Report, where the Commission monitors the state of the rule of law across the European Union, and which covers many of the issues highlighted also in your report. The Rule of Law Report has become a key driver for reforms. As you know, since 2022, the report includes country-specific recommendations addressed to each Member State. The 2023 report assesses, for the first time, the follow up to these recommendations. This year the Commission will also open the rule of law reports to certain accession countries, those that are the most advanced. These are important steps in the evolution of our rule of law policy, and I look forward to continuing the fruitful cooperation with the Parliament in this regard. The Commission is also determined to use all available instruments to ensure that the founding values are respected, including as regards the use of the Union budget. We do this in particular through infringement procedures, the conditionality regulation and the horizontal enabling condition on the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Furthermore, the Commission has dedicated its latest Annual Report on the Application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights to effective legal protection and access to justice. We adopted this report last December. In this Charter report, we underline the need for the European Union and its Member States to continue providing effective legal protection in all fields of EU law. Secondly, a few words on the rise of hate speech again and hate crimes in all its forms. The Commission is determined to address the increase in hate speech and hate crime by ensuring the effective application of the EU rules in this field, especially the 2008 Framework Decision on Combating Racism and Xenophobia. We have also proposed to include hate speech and hate crimes in the list of serious cross-border EU crimes covered by Article 83 of the Treaty. As I underlined in the previous debate, it is time for rapid adoption of a Council decision on the matter, where unanimity is required. The recent joint communication ‘No place for hate’ also focuses on the need to respond to the threat of hate speech online. In this context, I want to mention the Code of Conduct in place since 2016, which aims to make platforms accountable for curbing hate speech. Such a code of conduct will remain an important tool under the Digital Services Act. We are therefore quickly advancing towards an agreement on a revised Code of Conduct, which will help anticipate rising threats before they go viral. On a related note, the political agreement reached on the AI Act in December will help ensure that risky AI systems are designed and used in compliance with fundamental rights, and that breaches of fundamental rights can be addressed by national authorities. Thirdly, regarding the freedom of assembly, association and of expression, the Commission shares the concerns about these rights being sometimes disproportionately restricted, including for civil society organisations and rights defenders. These fundamental rights form the very base for a free, democratic and pluralistic society. We therefore call on the Member States to ensure respect of these rights. The Commission monitors the situation of civil society organisations and rights defenders and reports about it. We are needed. We also issue recommendations to the Member States on undue restrictions of the civic space in the Rule of Law Report. In 2023 we also followed up on the 2022 Charter Report by organising a series of seminars on the thriving civic space. This process brought together stakeholders to reflect on how to better empower and support the civil society in the European Union. The Defence of Democracy package, adopted in December, also includes a recommendation to promote the participation of citizens and civil society organisations in policymaking. Finally, your report rightly underlines the need to fight non-discrimination and achieve equal treatment everywhere in the European Union. This is also the spirit that has guided the Commission’s actions to achieve a Union of equality through several dedicated strategies. In this context, let me highlight, for example, the importance that the proposed Horizontal Equal Treatment Directive would have in substantially reinforcing fundamental rights. We call on all Member States to support this proposal. I thank you for your attention, but of course I will listen carefully to your remarks and again, your proposals to improve the civic space and to reinforce the capacity to protect fundamental rights in the European Union.