On Monday, 23 February, MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted – with 41 votes in favour, 19 against, and 9 abstentions – their annual report on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union for 2024 and 2025.
The text reports that there is increasing pressure on fundamental rights in several Member States.
In the document, MEPs mention democratic backsliding, continual attacks on judicial independence, and the misuse of spyware as well as cases of high-level corruption and a weakening of parliamentary control.
Moreover, the report sounds the alarm about threats to media freedom and the safety of journalists and calls for the European Media Freedom Act and the EU’s Anti-SLAPP Directive, texts from 2024, to be fully implemented.
Furthermore, MEPs are concerned not only about the rise in online hate speech, foreign interference, and digital manipulation—particularly during election periods—but also about violations at [the EU’s] borders. In addition, they condemn the instances of backsliding in the areas of women’s rights and equality for LGBTQI+ individuals.
Finally, the report—which is to be put to a vote during the plenary session in Brussels on 25 and 26 March—calls for the values enshrined in Article 2 of the EU Treaty and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights to be respected in all EU policies and for Member States to put these values into practice.
The report: https://aeur.eu/f/kw6 (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)