With less than three months to go before the end of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council, negotiations on the revision of the Victims’ Rights Directive (see EUROPE 13431/2) are not progressing at the pace expected.
Indeed, the aim of the European Parliament negotiating team and the Polish Presidency was to accelerate negotiations in order to reach an agreement by the end of the Polish Presidency, with a final meeting of inter-institutional negotiations (trilogue) scheduled for 4 June.
However, the third trilogue – the second under the Polish Presidency (see EUROPE 13574/24) – which was held on 9 April failed to make any decisive progress, according to Lucia Yar (Renew Europe, Slovakia), who spoke the following day, Thursday 10 April, before the European Parliament Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM), which she represented during the discussions.
“We tried to cover a small package on which we thought we could make progress”, she said, referring in particular to article 25 on the training of practitioners. But the discussions, which went on “late into the night”, came up against issues over points deemed to be sensitive, such as article 19 bis on the dignity of victims, article 21 on privacy and articles 22 and 23 on gender identity.
The European Parliament said it was prepared to make concessions, but “the Presidency was not in a position to contribute with the same sense of compromise”, said Lucia Yar with a level of regret when speaking of a lack of trust between the Presidency and the Member States.
However, she praised the involvement of the shadow rapporteurs and the quality of the discussions prior to the trilogue. According to a source close to the issue, however, they were not authorised to take part in the actual negotiations.
Furthermore, according to a working document consulted by Agence Europe, a number of articles are giving rise to tensions. Regarding the rights of victims in an irregular situation (article 5a, paragraph 5), Parliament defends a protective approach, rejecting any use of personal data for migration control purposes.
The EU Council, for its part, wishes to preserve national prerogatives, particularly in terms of cooperation between competent authorities.
With regard to the recognition of specific needs, especially for victims of sexual or gender-based violence, article 9 provides for access to specialist services, particularly in terms of sexual and reproductive health. While the European Parliament wishes to maintain an explicit reference to legal abortion, the EU Council is demanding wording that is subordinate to national law, thereby putting the brakes on any compromise.
The issue of confidentiality of personal data (article 21.3) also remains a sensitive one. Parliament wishes to prohibit the transmission of any information to the presumed perpetrator that could enable them to identify or locate the victim, unless there is an obligation to share this information. The EU Council, supported by several Member States, is calling for greater flexibility so as not to undermine the rights of the defence.
Some of the discussions also raised questions about the overall balance of the text and a certain hierarchy of priorities. At this stage, although the revision of this text is seen as a priority for the Polish Presidency in terms of criminal law, a number of obstacles persist.
Consequently, several articles were not discussed at the trilogue on 3 April. The provisions relating to legal aid (article 13), appeals (26d), compensation (16) and the right to a review of judicial decisions (10b) have been postponed until the next session, which is scheduled to take place on 4 June.
In the meantime, technical discussions will continue. “We are doing our utmost to move the text forward”, assured Lucia Yar. She therefore called on the EU Council to demonstrate a “constructive spirit”.
A political agreement before the summer could still be achieved, provided that the Member States soften their stance. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)