On Tuesday 25 April, the European Parliament’s Gender Equality Committee (FEMM) approved an own-initiative report on the aftermath of the MeToo movement and harassment in the European institutions.
While cases of harassment remain under-reported, the text calls, among other things, for awareness-raising and the strengthening of reporting procedures and support available to victims. It also proposes to set up a network of confidential counsellors and external mediators to advise victims in the different EU bodies.
In addition, MEPs call for complaints of harassment within the European Parliament to be dealt with “at the latest within a period of 6 months”. The President would decide on possible sanctions and communicate their decision to the parties concerned before any public announcement. MEPs call for existing sanctions to be strengthened in this respect.
The text also reiterates the need to make anti-harassment training compulsory “for all MEPs at the very beginning of each mandate and for all staff, notably all the levels of management” as well as to introduce sanctions for MEPs who have not completed this training (see EUROPE 13080/18). The list of MEPs who have undergone such training should be made public, they add.
Furthermore, the report notes the lack of a common European definition of sexual violence and harassment leading to a fragmentation of the protection offered to victims within the EU. MEPs therefore urge the European Commission to “submit on the basis of Article 83(1) TFEU a proposal for a Council decision identifying gender-based violence as a new area of crime” in the EU.
Led by Michal Šimečka (S&D, Slovakian), the original text (see EUROPE 13131/19) was the subject of 241 amendments, summarised in 36 compromise amendments, all of which were adopted.
See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/6iz
And the compromise amendments: https://aeur.eu/f/6iy (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)