Activities of Sylvie GUILLAUME related to 2023/2028(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Situation of fundamental rights in the EU in 2022 and 2023 (debate)
Amendments (44)
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the EU is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights, as set out in Article 2 TEU and the Charter; whereas these values should be shared by Member States and should be upheld and actively promoted by the EU and Member States in their internal and external action; whereas in recent years some Member States have shown worrying decline in respect for those values; ;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas media freedom, pluralism, independence and the safety of journalists are crucial components of the right of freedom of expression and information and are essential to the democratic functioning of the EU and its Member States; whereas in recent years, journalists and media actors in Europe and abroad have increasingly come under threat, particularly when focussing on the misuse of power, corruption, fundamental rights violations and criminal activities;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas government bodies in some Member States and third countries have used Pegasus and other surveillance spyware against journalists, politicians, law enforcement officials, diplomats, lawyers, business people, civil society actors and other actors, for political and even criminal purposes; whereas such practices are extremely alarming and underscore the risk of abuse of surveillance technologies to undermine fundamental rights and democracy;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the Court of Justice recalled25a that the right to freedom of association enshrined in Article 12(1) of the Charter is one of the essential bases of a democratic and pluralist society, as it allows citizens to act collectively in fields of mutual interest and in doing so to contribute to the proper functioning of public life; whereas increasingly violent attacks against the right to assembly and association through the disproportionate use of force against peaceful demonstrators have been reported in some Member States; _________________ 25a Commission v. Hungary (Transparency of association), Case C- 78/18, EU:C:2020:476
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas some Member States imposed restrictions with the deliberate aim of limiting civic space; whereas the civic space in many Member States faces legal, administrative, and fiscal harassment, criminalisation and negative rhetoric aimed at stigmatising and delegitimising CSOs, activists and human rights defenders and draining their capacity to carry out their legitimate work;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas, in March 2023, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights assessed situation of human rights defenders in Europe as having deteriorated alarmingly, and governments increasingly tend to disregard their human rights commitments, prioritising national security and public safety concerns over human rights; whereas the Commissioner , reported increasing restrictions on their ability to work freely and safely, as well as various forms of reprisals, including judicial harassment, prosecution, abusive controls and surveillance, smear campaigns, threats and intimidation in Member States and neighbouring countries; whereas this undermines democracy, and is part of a wider problem of polarisation in society characterised by increasing expression of hate and violence against different social or minority groups;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas journalists, media outlets and bloggers, human rights defenders, as well as civil society organizations, activists, trade unions, artists, researchers, whistleblowers, and politicians increasingly face threats, harassment, abusive lawsuits, and other forms of intimidation on account of their engagement in public participation;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas there have been multiple incidents of migrant deaths and human rights violations at European borders due to ineffective management and disproportionate use of force by the authorities; whereas the Court of Justice recalled that third country nationals can only be imprisoned when there is a specific legal basis to restrict their right to liberty and not when there is only a general criterion25b; _________________ 25b [1] Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 6 October 2022. I. L. v Politsei- ja Piirivalveamet
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas there has been an organised backlash against women’s and girls’ 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; whereas in some Member States the denial of safe and legal abortion has led to the death of a number of women in recent years; whereas the prevalence of gender-based violence, including sexual violence and rape remains, high across the European Union; whereas some Member States have still not ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention);
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas FRA survey data show that the prevalence of discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin (including Roma, Muslims, jewish people and people of African descent) remains consistently high, both over time and across different population groups in different Member States; whereas antisemitism, islamophobia and racism are persistent forms of hatred and discrimination; whereas far-right extremism poses a particular threat to persons affected by discrimination and to society as a whole;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas discrimination and violence against LGBTIQ+ people across the EU persists; whereas LGBTIQ+ persons still face discrimination and exclusion in several Member States regarding social protection, social security, access to healthcare, education, legal protection and access to and supply of goods and other services which are available to the public, including housing; whereas CJEU case law which protects social rights and the private life of same- sex couples and children born to same-sex parents is not being implemented, such as the Coman case (C-673/16) and Baby Sara case (C-490/20); whereas surgeries and medical treatments are performed on intersex children without their prior, personal, full and informed consent; whereas intersex genital mutilation can have lifelong consequences, such as psychological trauma and physical impairments;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas incidents of hate speech have steadily increased within the EU over the last few years26 , largely due to the increasing numbers of social media users and the fact that hate speech thrives online; whereas hate speech can lead to hate crime; whereas according to the FRA, up to nine in ten hate crimes and hate-motivated attacks in the EU are not reported and are therefore not sanctioned; _________________ 26 At a glance briefing ‘Combating hate speech and hate crime in the EU’, European Parliamentary Research Service, June 2022.
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas the EU is based on the promotion of social, cultural and economic rights; whereas the number of people still living in poverty in the EU is high, with more than one in five children at risk of poverty and almost one European out of four is at risk of poverty or social exclusion; whereas the poverty cycle exacerbates other inequalities such as a person’s access to education, health and employment particularly when there is a shortage of funding to provide access to services such as affordable housing; whereas the energy crisis and inflation increased the number of people affected by insecurity, poverty and social exclusion;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas the EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is an obligation under Article 6(2) TEU and remains a high priority; whereas it is part of a broader prospect for an enhanced protection of fundamental rights, democracy and the rule of law in the EU; whereas Member States and EU institutions and bodies including the European Court of Justice, the Fundamental Rights Agency of the EU (FRA) and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) have all a crucial role to play in upholding EU values and fundamental rights;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. SRecalls the importance of free media in upholding democracy, in holding public and private institutions to account and in allowing citizens to access balanced information; strongly condemns that in 2022 another global record for the number of imprisoned journalists was set; calls for a swift agreement on the anti- SLAPP directive, which should offer substantive and broad protection against abusive lawsuits;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Reiterates its concern for the abuse of fundamental rights in regards to the use of Pegasus and equivalent spyware for political purposes; underlines that the illegitimate use of spyware by national governments directly and indirectly affects the Union institutions and the decision making process, thus undermining the integrity of European Union democracy, and highlighting the urgency for greater transparency and legal accountability of the surveillance industry; calls on the Member States to put in place a conditional moratorium on the sale, acquisition, transfer, and use of spyware technologies, until a human rights-compliant regulatory framework will be in place; calls for a swift adoption of a strict human-rights-compliant regulatory framework at EU level for the trade in and use of spyware;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. IStresses that corruption is incompatible with the values of democracy and rule of law, as it deepens inequalities and erodes citizen’s trust in good governance; is deeply concerned by the increasing level of corruption in certain Member States, in particular of cases involving high-level officials and politicians; is concerned about the varying levels of implementation of the EU anti- corruption framework in Member States;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that judicial independence and effective checks and balances, which can vary from one Member State to another, are key components of the rule of law; condemns any attempts by Member State governments to exert political influence on or control over the independent decision-making of the judiciary directly or by organisational means; supports the creation of an EU strategy to ensure concrete and coordinated action at the EU level, including through the creation of a protection mechanism for human rights defenders within Europe, building on the examples in EU foreign policy, to ensure prevention, direct assistance and accountability;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Supports the use of the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the horizontal enabling conditions for the freezing of EU funding to fight corruption and rule of law backsliding in Member States; stresses that funds restricted through different conditionality measures must only be released when key rule of law, corruption and human rights concerns are genuinely and adequately addressed; urges Member States to complete appropriate measures to reach the milestones set out in their respective Recovery and Resilience Plans; calls on the European Council to determine whether Hungary has committed serious and persistent breaches of EU values under Article 7(2) TEU;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes the increasing threats to the freedoms of association, speech and assembly; reiterates that the right to peaceful assembly can be restricted only when provided for by law and if necessary and proportionate to protect a general interest recognised by the Union or the rights and freedoms of others; condemns the use of violent and disproportionate intervention by law enforcement during peaceful protests;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Emphasises that in order to ensure the right to freedom of expression and information, which is foundational for any democracy, information must be universally accessible and diverse, and underscores that artistic freedom must be guaranteed; stresses that disinformation can be highly disruptive for the functioning of democratic societies, economies and political systems; reiterates its suggestion to establish a sanction regime to tackle disinformation from malicious foreign powers, in particular with a view to the upcoming European elections; underlines that an independent and pluralistic media landscape is indispensable to effectively counter disinformation and propaganda and therefore must be promoted, including through effective action against media concentrations and through the empowerment of independent media in the online environment; notes that the political independence of media regulation and oversight by Member States and the Commission, the protection of editorial independence throughout the Union, as well as the protection of journalists from surveillance and the protection of journalistic sources are of paramount importance;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines the crucial role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in promoting active citizenship, fundamental rights and democratic participation in Europe; calls for a Commission strategy and common rules in all Member States to promote a regulatory and political environment free from chilling effects, threats and attacks, and to provide CSOs with a sustainable and non-discriminatory access to resources and support their engagement in civil dialogue and participation in policy making;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recalls that under Article 6 of the Charter, everyone has the right to liberty and security, which means that everyone within the Union should be protected from unlawful and arbitrary arrest; calls on Member States to follow the Commission recommendation on procedural rights of suspects and accused persons in order to improve detention conditions and thus ensure a higher protection of the right to liberty and security;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Condemns the rise in antisemitic, anti-Islamic and racist incidents in the EU; recalls that under Article 10 of the Charter everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; deplores that incidents of discrimination, racist and xenophobic crimes are often not reported to the authorities, which leads to de facto impunity; regrets that not all Member States have fully transposed the framework decision on anti-racism and xenophobia;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Points out that the datafication of everyday life and data scandals mean that the right to the protection of personal data is of growing importance; reiterates its concerns about the uneven application of the General Data Protection Regulation; supports the current legislative process on a European regulatory framework on Artificial Intelligence providing for strong fundamental rights safeguards by banning intrusive and discriminatory uses of AI systems such as biometric surveillance, emotion recognition and predictive policy AI systems;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Strongly condemns the widespread fundamental rights violations and use of disproportionate violence by national authorities at Union borders, including arbitrary detention, inhumane living conditions and lack of access to health care, unlawful returns, and violent pushbacks; condemns laws in Member States that undermine the effective protection of human rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants on the land and at sea; highlights that almost a third of asylum seekers are children and reiterates that immigration detention of children should not be permitted;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Strongly deplores the numerous deaths of refugees and migrants at sea; calls urgently for permanent coordinated search and rescue operations and for Member States to take every possible action to save the life of people at risk at sea;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. DCalls on the Commission to ensure that the right of non-discrimination and equal treatment is respected across the EU; deplores that the proposal on the horizontal anti-discrimination directive has remained blocked in the Council for 14 years;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Recalls that gender-based violence is highly prevalent in all Member States across the Union; condemns the backsliding on women’s rights in some Member States, particularly the denial of access to safe and legal abortion; highlights that the ECtHR has ruled that restrictive abortion laws and lack of implementation violates a woman’s right to bodily autonomy and integrity; reiterates its condemnation of Poland’s law which imposes a near total ban on abortion; recalls that citizens who help those to access abortion when it is not freely and legally available should not be persecuted; reiterates its call on the Commission to include the right to abortion in the Charter of Fundamental Rights; welcomes the Commission’s proposal for a Directive to combat Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence; highlights that such Directive should guarantee obligations laid down in the Istanbul Convention as a minimum standard and aim to strengthen these standards to increase the level of protection; welcomes the EU´s accession to the Istanbul Convention;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Recalls that hate crimes and hate speech motivated by racism, xenophobia, religious intolerance or a person’s disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics are extreme examples of discrimination; notes that EU Member States have a duty to combat and investigate hate crime, punish perpetrators and take preventive measures; stresses the need for appropriate recording of hate crimes by law enforcement authorities to better understand the nature and prevalence of the phenomenon and its impact on victims;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Welcomes the Commission’s initiative to extend the list of EU crimes in Article 83(1) TFEU to hate speech and hate crimes, highlighting the need to ensure a robust EU criminal law response to hate speech and hate crime on all grounds; deplores the delayed approval of the initiative, and reiterates its call on the Council to work diligently towards a consensus;
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Calls on the Commission to effectively monitor the implementation of the measures contained in the various equality strategies, such as the EU LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy 2020-2025, the EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020- 2025, the Strategy on Roma Equality and Inclusion, as well as the EU anti-racism action plan 2020-2025; urges the Member States to swiftly draw up and implement national action plans against racism (NAPAR); demands the full implementation and enforcement of existing EU law, including the Racial Equality Directive and the Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia;
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Deplores that discriminatory profiling practices by police persists in the European Union; is deeply concerned about cases of police violence against racialized people in several Member States; calls on the Member States to ensure that people have access to independent and well-functioning police complaints mechanisms capable of launching investigations into cases of police violence, misconduct and abuse and to safeguard the rights of people to document these cases;
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. 22. Welcomes the Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition of decisions and acceptance of authentic instruments in matters of parenthood and on the creation of a European Certificate of Parenthood to protect the rights of all children by ensuring that their parental ties established in one Member State are recognised in all EU Member States;
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Recognises that poverty is another form of discrimination that leads to the violation of fundamental rights; highlights the particular vulnerability of children and the impact that poverty has on them and on their physical and psychological development; calls on the Commission, the Council and the Member States to develop policies to reduce poverty, paying particular attention to children;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Welcomes the Council Recommendation of 30 January 2023 on adequate minimum income27 ensuring active inclusion as a step forward in implementing principle 14 of the European Pillar of Social Rights; regrets however the lack of concrete measures to overcome structural discriminatory and biased approaches towards vulnerable groups such as women, racialized minorities, Roma, and refugees; calls on the Member States to collect data on minimum income disaggregated for these groups; _________________ 27 OJ C 41, 3.2.2023, p. 1.
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Stresses that digitalisation is a transversal process that impacts access to all services, particularly healthcare, and the exercise of fundamental rights; underlines that digital poverty in the EU should be monitored and assessed in relation to access to essential services and fundamental rights, including for elderly people, people living in situations of homelessness, people living in remote areas and Roma people25a; _________________ 25a https://www.eapn.eu/wp- content/uploads/2023/02/eapn-EAPN- Report-2022_Equal-access-to-affordable- quality-essential-services-5639.pdf
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Notes that housing is not a commodity, but a necessity, and is a precondition for participating fully in society; calls on Member States to step up investment in social and affordable housing to eradicate the burden of high housing costs, particularly among disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, and to avoid competition between these groups;
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Welcomes the recognition of the universal right to access to a healthy and sustainable environment by the UN Human Rights Council on 8 October 2021; notes that according to the European Environment Agency, 307,000 premature deaths resulted from exposure to fine particulate matter air pollution in the Union in 2019 alone; recalls the need for full alignment of the EU ambient air quality standards with the latest WHO guidelines by 2030;
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Welcomes the progress made since the resumption of the negotiations towards EU accession to the ECHR in June 2020 and the provisional agreement on the draft revised accession instruments reached in March 2023; calls on the Commission and the Council to resolve the remaining issue on the situation of EU acts in the area of the Common Foreign and Security Policy as swiftly as possible in order to complete the accession process;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Supports the FRA’s work on analysing data in order to document discrimination and welcomes further developments in this field; calls on national bodies cooperating with FRA to provide impartial data; calls on the FRA to consult additional sources when serious concerns persist on the quality of data; welcomes the Commission’s proposals for two directives on standards for equality bodies, aiming to ensure better implementation and enforcement of EU anti-discrimination rules;
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Highlights the importance of supporting and strengthening cooperation between the EU institutions, the Member States, the European Anti-Fraud Office and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office; calls on the Commission to present a report assessing the possibility and modalities to extend the mandate of the EPPO, as provided for in Article 86 TFEU, to include serious environmental crimes that are detrimental to the interests of the Union or affect the consistent application of EU policies related to the protection of the environment;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 b (new)
Paragraph 23 b (new)
23b. Calls to establish the FRA as an independent human rights authority, similar to national human rights institutions and in line with the UN General Assembly’s Paris Principles of 1993, to protect and promote the Charter policies and practices from Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, and from Member States when implementing Union law; considers that this requires a legal basis in the Treaties for the setting up of a European Union Authority for Fundamental Rights, enshrining its independence and introducing the ordinary legislative procedure for adopting and amending its mandate; calls to entitle this new Authority to bring actions under Article 263 TFEU on grounds of infringement of the Charter; calls to include in its mandate the power to handle complaints and mandatory consultation by the Commission of the FRA when preparing proposals for legislative acts or recommendations which have an impact on fundamental rights;
Amendment 228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Recalls the importance of the relevant CJEU case-law upholding the respect for fundamental rights and further defining the rule of law; is concerned by the persistent refusal of some Members States, notably Hungary and Poland, to implement domestic, CJEU and ECtHR judgements, which contributes to the erosion of the rule of law; stresses that the non-implementation of judgments can lead to human rights violations being left without remedy; highlights that the primacy of EU constitutes the bedrock of the EU’s legal order; deplores that Poland undermines the primacy of EU law in order to avoid compliance with judgements of the CJEU;