Activities of Louis MICHEL related to 2018/2103(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Situation of fundamental rights in the European Union in 2017 (debate) FR
Situation of fundamental rights in the European Union in 2017 (debate) FR
Amendments (28)
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas women and girls in the EU experience structural gender inequality in a variety of forms and in a range of settings – including gender discrimination, sexual harassment, gender- based violence and misogynistic hate speech – which severely limits their ability to enjoy their rights and to participate on an equal footing in society; whereas in 2017, the #MeToo movement raised awareness of the scale and intensity of the sexual harassment and sexual and gender- based violence women face;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the press and civil society organisations play a fundamental role in a democracy;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas Article 21 (1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union states that any discrimination based on grounds such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, languages or membership of a national minority shall be prohibited; whereas migrants, descendants of migrants and members of minority ethnic groups continue to face widespread discrimination across the EU and in all areas of life; whereas, in spite of numerous calls on the Commission, only limited steps have been taken to ensure the effective protection of minorities; whereas persistent racist and xenophobic attitudes 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 these views run counter to the common European values which all the Member States have undertaken to uphold;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas respect for the rule of law is a prerequisite for the protection of fundamental rights, and whereas Member States have the ultimatare responsibility tole for safeguarding the human rights of all people by enacting and implementing international human rights treaties and conventions; whereas the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights should be continually consolidated; whereas any attempt to undermine these principles is to the detriment not only of the Member State concerned but also of the Union as a whole;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas all Member States have undertaken to respect and promote the founding values of the Union enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union; whereas monitoring the situation in each Member State cannot constitute an infringement of their sovereignty;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. ERecalls that women are often the victims of double discrimination due, inter alia, to their ethnic minority status, sexual orientation, disability or migrant status; expresses concern about the risk of misogyny in European societies and its impact on women’s fundamental rights in all spheres of life; calls on Member States to address the key obstacles to gender equality in economic empowerment and political participation, including sexual harassment which hampers women’s full participation in the labour market; highlights the fact that gender stereotypes must be tackled from an early age to effectively address the under- representation of women in work, decision making and politics; calls on Member States to appropriately address this issue in school curricula;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Expresses concerns about the obstacles to the work of human rights defenders, including civil society organisations active in the field of fundamental rights and democracy; recognises the key role of these organisations in making fundamental rights and values a reality for everyone and stresses that they should be able to carry out their work in a safe and well-supported environment; is concerned by the closing down of civil society space in some Member States; calls on the EU and the Member States to address proactively the root causes of shrinking civil society space and to uphold their fundamental rights;
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 i (new)
Paragraph 11 i (new)
11i. Recalls that the history of European integration is based on the fight against cultural isolationism, populism, hate speech, calls for violence and discrimination against minorities; notes that the raison d'être of the European project and the societal gains it has brought about are increasingly being undermined by political factions, including small neo-Nazi groups, which are totally at odds with shared European values;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 3
Subheading 3
Racism, xenophobia, discrimination and hate speech and crimes
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12b. Condemns the rise of far-right movements in the strongest possible terms, and calls for all Member States to take effective, proportionate action to sanction hate crimes and hate speech; is concerned at the trivialisation of hate speech, which can be attributed to political figures;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 c (new)
Paragraph 12 c (new)
12c. Calls on all the Member States to draw up action plans to combat racism, xenophobia, discrimination, hate speech and hate crimes; calls on the Member States in particular to ensure that children are made aware of these issues as a matter of course via the school curriculum, notably with a view to enabling them to identify the features of hate speech and incitement to violence, especially online;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Member States to make efforts to systematically record, collect and publish annually comparable data on ethnic discrimination, or discrimination against any other type of minority, and hate crime in order to enable them and other key stakeholders to develop effective, evidence-based legal and policy responses to these phenomena; recalls that any data should be collected in accordance with national legal frameworks and EU data protection legislation;
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Emphasises the need to encourage victims to report hate crimes or discrimination, and to give them appropriate protection and support;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Member States to continue their efforts to ensure the effective practical enforcement of the Race Equality Directive (2000/43/EC)4 and to ensure effective enforcement of the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia to tackle persisting discrimination against Roma, anti- Semitism, Islamophobia, Afrophobia and anti-Gypsyism; points out that the Member States should review their national integration strategies to ensure that all people regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability or any other status are empowered to engage actively in the process of inclusion by promoting their social, economic, political and cultural participation in society; __________________ 4 OJ C 180, 19.7.2000, p. 22. OJ C 180, 19.7.2000, p. 22.
Amendment 256 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Deplores the fact that in 2017, LGBTI people were still victims of discrimination and hatred and encourages the Member States to adopt laws and policies to combat homophobia and transphobia, in particular on the basis of the ‘List of actions to advance LGBTI equality’ published by the European Commission;
Amendment 261 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Welcomes the efforts of the EU’s high-level group on combating racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance, in particular as regards access to justice and protecting the victims of hate crime, as well as in the areas of the registration of hate crimes by law enforcement services and the provision of training for law enforcement services and judicial authorities; calls on the Member States and other stakeholders to take full account of the principles referred to in the high-level group’s conclusions;
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 4
Subheading 4
Rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights
Amendment 286 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Recalls that the rule of law is part of and a prerequisite for the protection of all values listed in Article 2 of the TEU; calls on all relevant actors at European and national level, including governments, parliaments and the judiciary, to step up efforts to uphold and reinforce the rule of law; recalls that these actors have the responsibility to address rule of law concerns and that they play an important role in preventing any erosion of the rule of law, which is not a blind application of law but our democratic acceptance of being ruled by law;
Amendment 291 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Recalls that the Commission, as guardian of the Treaties, has the legitimacy and authority to ensure that all Member States are upholding the principles of the rule of law and the other values referred to in Article 2 of the TEU; insists that Article 7 of the TEU should be employed if all other remedies have failed; recalls that, in his 2018 State of the Union address, President Juncker pointed out that ‘Article 7 must be applied whenever the rule of law is threatened’;
Amendment 298 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Emphasises that the Council and Parliament also have a key role to play in safeguarding the rule of law and the other values referred to in Article 2 of the TEU; welcomes the efforts made by certain Member States to see to it that, within the Council, a regular assessment is made of the situation with regard to the rule of law in each Member State; takes the view that such an assessment would make it possible to strengthen dialogue and mutual trust among Member States when it comes to the rule of law; calls on the Council to take swift action with a view to achieving this aim;
Amendment 300 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18b. Emphasises that, in certain Member States, there are serious and persistent breaches of the values referred to in Article 2 of the TEU, and takes the view that the EU’s ineffectiveness in putting an end to these situations is undermining both the trust among the Member States and the credibility of the EU, not only in the eyes of the public but also in the rest of the international community; emphasises, furthermore, that the persistent failure to address these breaches has encouraged other Member States to follow the same path;
Amendment 301 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 c (new)
Paragraph 18 c (new)
18c. Emphasises that the unanimity rule makes it impossible to impose sanctions under Article 7 of the TEU, because several Member States are concerned; takes the view that the EU should be able to impose sanctions on Member States that no longer uphold the values enshrined in Article 2, without necessarily having to resort to using Article 7; stresses, however, that such sanctions should not replace the triggering of Article 7; takes note of the proposal for a regulation on the protection of the Union’s budget in case of generalised deficiencies as regards the rule of law in the Member States; takes the view that any decision taken pursuant to that regulation should be based, inter alia, on a regular and impartial assessment of the situation with regard to the rule of law in each Member State;
Amendment 302 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 d (new)
Paragraph 18 d (new)
18d. Takes note of the proposal for a regulation establishing the ‘Rights and Values’ programme for the next multiannual financial framework; takes the view that the funding made available under that programme should be used to provide increased support for civil society organisations that promote European values such as respect for the rule of law, especially in Member States in which a generalised deficiency with regard to the rule of law has been identified;
Amendment 305 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Recalls the need for an impartial, regular assessment of the situation with regard to the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights in all the Member States; stresses that such an assessment must be based on objective criteria; recalls, in this regard, Parliament’s resolution with recommendations to the Commission on the establishment of an EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights5, adopted on 10 October 2016; reiterates its call on the Commission to submit, on the basis of Article 295 of the TFEU, a proposal for the conclusion of a Union Pact for democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights (EU Pact for DRF) in the form of an interinstitutional agreement laying down arrangements facilitating the cooperation between the Union institutions and the Member States in the framework of Article 7 of the TEU; __________________ 5 OJ C 215, 19.6.2018, p. 162. OJ C 215, 19.6.2018, p. 162.
Amendment 307 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Recalls Parliament’s resolution with recommendations to the Commission on the establishment of an EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights5 , adopted on 10 October 2016; reiterates its call on the Commission to submit, on the basis of Article 295 of the TFEU, a proposal for the conclusion of a Union Pact for democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights (EU Pact for DRF) in the form of an interinstitutional agreement laying down arrangements facilitating the cooperation between the Union institutions and the Member States in the framework of Article 7 of the TEU; underlines that the EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights as proposed by the European Parliament should incorporate the existing monitoring mechanisms, which will result in improved cohesion, just application of the tools to all Member States, improved effectiveness and annual costs savings; __________________ 5 OJ C 215, 19.6.2018, p. 162.
Amendment 351 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Calls on Member States toStresses that, when implementing interoduce specific safeguards to guaranteperability, Member States should ensure that the interoperability of large- scale IT systems does not lead to adverse effects on the rights of children or vulnerable persons, such as applicants for and beneficiaries of international protection, or to discriminatory profiling; calls onurges the Member States to ensure that the objectives for the implementation of interoperability aims at fulfillinginclude a child protection objective, such as identifying missing children and assisting family reunification;
Amendment 376 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Stresses that Member States should considergo ahead with putting into place a combination of protection-related schemes, such as resettlement and humanitarian admission, and regular mobility schemes to promote legal pathways to the EU for persons in need of protectioninternational protection; takes the view that the Union should play a key role in global resettlement efforts; calls on Member States to increase resettlement places with a view to providing the most vulnerable refugees with a legal channel; recalls that any action undertaken by a Member State, when acting within the scope of EU law, must respect the rights and principles of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; calls on EU Member States to effectively ensure the right to asylum and to accept relocation of refugees from Member States most affected by high numbers of arrivals; also calls on Member States to respect the principle of non-refoulement and introduce adequate procedural safeguards to their asylum and border procedures, including safeguards against collective expulsion;
Amendment 398 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Acknowledges that before envisaging any kind of integration process, it is important toStresses that addressing the vulnerabilities and specific needs of all migrants should be an integral part of the integration process; recalls that the assessment of the needs of migrants should happen regularly and as long as it is needed, as their situation and needs might evolve; underlines the fact that reunification with family members is a powerful tool to empower migrants and give them the feeling that they can start settling and integrating in their new host society; calls for the sharing between Member States of good integration practices to be stepped up;