Hate speech and hate crimes must become EU-recognised crimes

As hate crimes have significantly risen in Europe - and most recently against Jewish and Muslim people in the wake of the re-escalation of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) today adopted Maite Pagazaurtundúa's report that makes a strong political call to extend the list of EU-crimes to include hate speech and hate crime. It would enable the establishment of EU-wide minimum standards for defining criminal offences and sanctions to combat, and also stop the normalisation of, intolerance, stigmatisation and discrimination.

Maite Pagazaurtundúa (Spain), Member of the LIBE Committee and rapporteur for the report, emphasised:

"The European Parliament is committed to criminalising hate speech and hate crimes across the EU to harmonise the fight against the growing threat of the 21st century. This is an ambitious report that advocates universal protection for victims, including minors, in a context of very worrying polarisation."

In her report, Renew Europe MEP Maite Pagazaurtundúa calls on the three remaining Member States in the Council to stop blocking the proposal for a Council decision to extend the list of EU crimes, which was already put forward by the European Commission two years ago. If not, MEP Pagazaurtundúa urges to activate the so-called' passerelle clause', to shift the need from unanimity to qualified majority voting in the Council to finally make progress on this urgent matter.