What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

39. Highlights the negative effects that online platforms can have on fundamental rights and the mental health of children; stresses the need to protect children online, and calls on the Commission to closely monitor whether existing legal frameworks can effectively address these concerns, with a specific focus on ensuring a strong children’s rights and fundamental rights perspective in such assessments; underlines that the upcoming Digital Fairness Act must effectively protect children online and safeguard their rights; further calls on the Commission to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for children, and to better protect them from harmful and illegal content and from advertisements based on profiling;

40. Welcomes the announcement of the first EU-wide inquiry into the effects of social media on well-being, and calls on the Commission to speed up the process;

41. Calls for stronger investment in media and digital literacy as the most effective safeguard against manipulation; urges the Member States to include media and digital literacy, civic education, European history, respect for fundamental rights, critical thinking and the promotion of public participation in school and university curricula, recognising them as critical elements for meaningful participation in democratic life and the effective exercise of fundamental rights, including freedom of expression and the right to receive information; highlights the need to work in parallel on raising awareness about how to tackle disinformation and promoting digital literacy; calls for a concerted EU media and digital literacy strategy with projects that create tangible results with significant scale across the EU;

42. Deplores the growing practice of government surveillance of independent media outlets and journalists by intelligence services; strongly condemns attempts by certain governments to portray independent media and journalists as drivers of radicalisation or to restrict their work by labelling them as threats to society or national security;

43. Reiterates that surveillance must be conducted in accordance with the law, serve a legitimate aim and be necessary and proportionate given the threat it poses to fundamental rights and democracy; regrets that the legal framework in some Member States does not provide precise, effective and comprehensive safeguards on the authorisation and execution of surveillance measures and on the potential redress mechanisms against such measures; underlines that all surveillance measures must be subject to an appropriate judicial review and effective oversight; is concerned about new cases of unjustified invocation of ‘national security’ to justify the deployment and use of spyware and to ensure absolute secrecy and lack of accountability; welcomes the Commission’s statement, in line with the CJEU’s jurisprudence, that a mere reference to national security cannot be interpreted as being an unlimited exemption from EU law and should require a clear justification; calls on the Commission to follow up on that statement in cases where there are indications of abuse; recalls that in a democratic and transparent society that abides by the rule of law, surveillance in the name of national security should be the exception rather than the rule;

44. Reiterates its call on the Member States to follow all the recommendations of PEGA and the Venice Commission, which provide important guidance on ensuring compliance with fundamental rights, the rule of law and democratic oversight; stresses the need for full accountability and transparency in all cases of intrusive surveillance; urges the Commission to respond to the growing threats posed by spyware technologies; calls for effective judicial oversight to ensure that surveillance is never used against journalists, activists or political opponents;

45. Urges the EU’s accession to the ECHR to be finalised; recalls that the CJEU, in its case Opinion 2/13, identified a number of legal obstacles to accession, and underlines the importance of addressing these obstacles in order to enable the EU’s timely and successful accession; stresses that this step is essential to align the EU’s legal framework with the highest standards of human rights protection;

Fundamental rights at borders and migration policy

46. Recalls that the new legislative framework under the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum establishes revised rules for asylum procedures, border management and solidarity; underlines that its effective implementation requires full respect for fundamental rights; highlights that respect for fundamental rights must continue to be closely monitored;

47. Calls on the EU and the Member States, in particular their competent authorities, to comply with international human rights obligations and commitments in their migration policies, promote prompt investigations, closely monitor the impact of these policies on fundamental rights, both within existing legal frameworks and in the development of future legislation, and refrain from adopting migration policies that exacerbate inequality and exclusion; encourages the EU and the Member States to take into account the situation and specific needs of vulnerable groups; calls for the establishment of a mechanism to monitor compliance with these obligations;

48. Calls on the Member States to implement the Migration and Asylum Pact in full and in a timely manner; highlights the need to meet the implementation deadline; notes with concern the lack of preparedness by some Member States to meet the implementation deadline, including with regard to provisions related to fundamental rights, and encourages continued support and cooperation to ensure its full implementation; highlights that international law recognises that seeking asylum is a lawful act and that, accordingly, an asylum seeker cannot be arbitrarily detained solely on the grounds of being an asylum seeker; recalls that the detention of asylum seekers must be a measure of last resort if less coercive alternative measures cannot be applied effectively; stresses that any detention of asylum seekers must be exceptional, necessary and proportionate, and may only be ordered on the basis of an individual assessment for the specific reasons provided under EU law;

Gender-based violence, women’s rights and the rights of LGBTIQ+ people

53. Strongly condemns the backsliding on women’s and LGBTIQ+ rights in several Member States; calls on the Commission and the Member States to protect and promote gender equality and fundamental rights, including by addressing disinformation and organised campaigns that seek to limit these rights, and to take the necessary measures to promote gender representation;

54. Urges the Commission and the Member States to take the necessary measures to fight anti-gender and anti-rights movements, including anti-LGBTIQ+ movements, and to conduct in-depth research, monitoring and analysis of the impact of these movements to gain a clearer understanding of their operations, coordination and financing strategies; stresses that such understanding is crucial to safeguard an inclusive and tolerant Europe grounded in the values enshrined in Article 2 TEU;

55. Urges the Commission to ensure that in the new MFF, no EU funding will be made available to anti-gender and anti-rights groups that aim to roll back progress in women’s rights and the rights of LGBTIQ+ people, nor to any group or project that does not respect EU values and the fundamental rights outlined in the Charter; further urges the Commission to closely monitor the implementation in Member States of funds under shared management aimed at promoting gender equality and supporting civil society, including women non-governmental organisations, in order to ensure that calls for proposals to obtain such funds are not being deliberately paused or withheld;

57. Underlines that the absence of legal gender recognition procedures constitutes a violation of fundamental rights; condemns conversion practices, such as practices aimed at changing, repressing or suppressing a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression, as violations of fundamental rights, and urges the Commission to tackle them through concrete actions; further urges, in this regard, the Commission to present a proposal for a legal act establishing an EU ban on conversion practices in all Member States as a follow-up action to the ‘Ban on conversion practices in the European Union’ European Citizens’ Initiative;

58. Is deeply concerned about the discriminatory measures introduced in some Member States under the pretext of fighting ‘LGBTIQ+ propaganda’, which are contributing to an alarming increase in hate crimes and hate speech targeting LGBTIQ+ individuals; highlights the negative impact of such measures on freedom of expression and freedom of assembly; emphasises that these actions encourage discrimination and contravene EU law; stresses the importance of the right to self-determination of LGBTIQ+ persons and the relevant case-law in this regard;

59. Calls on all Member States to protect LGBTIQ+ rights in compliance with EU law, the Charter, and case-law of the CJEU and the ECtHR; urges the Commission to address the persistent failure to implement CJEU judgments relating to the fundamental rights of LGBTIQ+ people, using all the mechanisms at its disposal;

60. Recalls that legal barriers to recognising same-sex partnerships, parenthood and marriages across borders persist in several Member States; warns that such practices hinder the free movement of LGBTIQ+ families within the EU, violate the principle of non-discrimination before the law and highlight the lack of uniform protection for LGBTIQ+ individuals across Member States; calls on the Member States who have not yet done so to introduce legal recognition of same-sex partnerships; calls on the Commission to recast Directive 2004/38/EC in order to include explicit cross-border recognition of private and family life rights; stresses that all children are equal before the law and that Member States must act in the best interests of the child;

61. Recalls Parliament’s mandate on the Parenthood Regulation, which supports the recognition of parenthood across the EU irrespective of the type of family; calls on the Member States to swiftly adopt the Parenthood Regulation to provide legal certainty for parents and children across the EU and to ensure that parenthood established in one EU Member State is automatically recognised across the EU; urges the Commission to ensure full respect for the free movement of persons, the rights of the child, the right of residence and family reunification within the EU, enabling all citizens to enjoy equal rights and exercise them in full;

62. Welcomes the EU Roadmap for Women’s Rights and the Declaration of principles for a gender-equal society annexed thereto; regrets, however, the lack of strong financial commitments; is concerned about the insufficient level of ambition to protect and promote the Union of Equality;

63. Underlines that gender-based violence, both online and offline, is a major and pervasive offence, as well as a violation of fundamental rights and the principle of equality before the law; calls on the Commission and the Member States to take action against all forms of gender-based violence, both online and offline;

65. Urges the Commission and the Member States to address the growing potential harm and chilling effect that new technologies, including artificial intelligence, can have on victims, and to put in place preventive and supportive measures; further urges the Commission to take action against the pervasive online violence targeting women, which has become an increasing barrier to women’s participation in public life and to equal representation; urges, in this regard, the Commission and the Member States to fully and properly implement relevant legislation, in particular the Directive on combatting violence against women and domestic violence and the DSA;

66. Strongly deplores and condemns the spread of hate crime and hate speech, including on social media; underlines that they pose a serious threat to democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights; highlights and strongly condemns the risks posed to democratic debate and fundamental rights when freedom of expression and freedom of information are exploited by anti-democratic movements and politicians to legitimise hate speech, disinformation and the intimidation of journalists and minorities; underlines that freedom of expression must be exercised within the law and in line with Article 11 of the Charter, and cannot be used as a pretext for undermining democracy and fundamental rights;

67. Urges the Commission and the Member States to take the necessary measures to fight hate speech and hate crime, both offline and online, especially where such conduct can escalate into violence, including gender-based violence; further stresses the importance of putting in place EU legislation to combat hate crimes and hate speech, including on grounds such as gender identity and sexual orientation; encourages the Commission to follow up on the LGBTIQ+ equality strategy 2026-2030; welcomes the Commission’s initiative to expand the list of EU crimes under Article 83(1) TFEU to include hate speech and hate crime, highlighting the need to ensure a robust EU criminal law response in this regard;

68. Urges the Council to extend the current list of ‘EU crimes’ under Article 83(1) TFEU to include hate speech and hate crime; calls on the Council to activate the ‘passerelle clause’ in this regard; calls on the Commission to be ready to initiate the second stage of the procedure and propose a directive aimed at combatting hate speech and hate crimes both offline and online, and to take into account Parliament’s position in this regard;

73. Urges the Member States to formally recognise feminicide as a distinct gender-based crime in national legislation, to adopt and enforce comprehensive strategies to prevent and combat it, to ensure effective investigation and prosecution of all cases, and to provide specialised shelters, counselling and compensation mechanisms for victims’ relatives;

74. Condemns in the strongest terms the use of rape and other forms of sexual violence as a weapon of war, and recalls that such conduct can amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity under international law; urges the strengthening of international efforts to document these crimes, and emphasises the importance of ensuring access to safe and legal abortion for victims of sexual violence, including victims of rape in the context of war;

75. Calls on all Member States to ratify the Istanbul Convention; expresses deep concern over the Member States that have not yet ratified it and over any withdrawals from the Istanbul Convention; underlines that such developments are the result of a prolonged disinformation campaign on the Convention’s scope and aims by anti-democratic forces across the EU;

Prisoners and conditions of detention

76. Recalls that the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, set out in Article 4 of the Charter and Article 3 of the ECHR, is absolute and non-derogable, and fully applies to all persons, including those deprived of liberty; urges the Member States to guarantee that the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and national preventive mechanisms can conduct unrestricted visits to all places of detention and that their recommendations are fully implemented;

77. Notes with concern that, in some Member States, pre-trial detention is used excessively or without sufficient justification; urges the Member States to ensure that deprivation of liberty before trial is applied only as a last resort, in full compliance with ECHR standards and the presumption of innocence, and to strengthen judicial oversight and the periodic review of detention decisions;

78. Strongly condemns systematic overcrowding, the lack of medical care and the unlawful prolonging of pre-trial detention; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure full compliance with the Nelson Mandela Rules, the UN Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol and the European Prison Rules by improving detention conditions in all prisons and adopting preventive and rehabilitative measures, including in juvenile facilities, as well as by tackling overcrowding, ensuring access to healthcare and psychological support and strengthening suicide prevention measures; stresses that the protection of human dignity is a measure of society’s democratic strength;

79. Calls on the Commission to address serious violations in prisons, in line with the EU’s obligation to uphold the values enshrined in Article 2 TEU;

Civil society under threat

80. Recalls that, according to Article 11(2) TEU, the EU institutions must maintain an open, transparent and structured dialogue with CSOs and representative associations; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure effective consultation processes in line with good governance standards, to promote the engagement and effective participation of citizens and CSOs in policymaking, including in matters related to the protection and promotion of fundamental rights, and to support their capacity to participate in EU policies, while ensuring transparency and full compliance with applicable rules;

81. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure sustainable, flexible and accessible funding for CSOs and access to justice;

82. Welcomes the Commission’s proposal, in the context of the next MFF, to enable the redistribution of frozen funds to CSOs, and stresses the need to guarantee that a share of such resources can support organisations working to promote fundamental rights and other EU values in Member States where funds remain frozen; recalls the importance of the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme in protecting and promoting the rights and values enshrined in the Treaties, the Charter and the applicable international human rights conventions, in particular by supporting CSOs and encouraging civic and democratic participation, in order to sustain and further develop open, rights-based, democratic, equal and inclusive societies; considers that the new AgoraEU programme must safeguard at least the same level of ambition as the CERV programme;

83. Welcomes the Commission’s EU strategy for civil society; further welcomes the fact that the strategy is focused on CSOs and HRDs, and includes actions such as strengthening effective and meaningful engagement with civil society, ensuring an open, safe and enabling civic space by providing support and protection, including the reduction of administrative burdens for CSOs on the ground, and supporting CSOs with adequate, sustainable and transparent funding; urges the Commission to ensure the full implementation of the strategy and to systematically monitor the situation of civic space in its rule of law reports;

84. Expresses deep concern about the continued shrinking civic space and the increasing persecution of CSOs and HRDs in several Member States, particularly those working in the areas of anti-racism, climate justice, LGBTIQ+ rights, women’s rights and migration; notes that these groups face a range of threats, including legal and financial restrictions, funding suspensions, smear campaigns, intimidation and criminalisation; regrets that restrictions on the freedoms of assembly, expression and association often disproportionately affect specific groups or causes;

85. Stresses that the right to peaceful assembly, freedom of association and expression, and freedom of the arts and sciences are fundamental rights protected by international and EU law and are essential for democracy; underlines that freedom of association, as guaranteed by Article 12 of the Charter and Article 11 of the ECHR, is a cornerstone of a democratic society;

86. Condemns the criminalisation of humanitarian workers and activists; encourages the Member States to ensure that humanitarian assistance provided to vulnerable persons is not criminalised; recalls that EU legislation must be aligned with European and international human rights standards, and calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the situations where such alignment is lacking;

87. Notes with concern that several Member States and candidate and potential candidate countries have imposed disproportionate measures on humanitarian workers and activists; strongly condemns the use of ‘foreign agent laws’, which stifle dissent, target CSOs and restrict their operations, creating a chilling effect on civil society and HRDs; condemns the disproportionate measures in some Member States against peaceful demonstrations, including pre-emptive bans, the use of excessive force and the detention of protesters, with chilling effects; calls on the Member States to refrain from disproportionate legal action against those taking part in peaceful demonstrations;

88. Urges the Commission and the Member States to ensure that the right to peaceful assembly can be exercised, to refrain from proposing or implementing measures that could have a chilling effect on civic space, noting with concern that such attempts have been observed in some Member States, and to facilitate healthy debate on any issue of public concern; condemns any practice that has a chilling effect on peaceful demonstrations, such as the use of excessive force, surveillance and judicial harassment;

89. Calls on the Commission to set up a rapid response mechanism in the EU to support threatened CSOs and HRDs that protect and promote EU values; calls on the Commission to establish a European civic space index to monitor and report annually on the enabling environment for civil society; further calls for the transparency of funding for all actors in the EU Transparency Register;

90. Urges the Member States to implement Commission Recommendation (EU) 2022/758 on protecting journalists and human rights defenders who engage in public participation;

Structural racism and discrimination

91. Recalls that the EU Treaties and the Charter enshrine the EU’s mandate and responsibility for combating discrimination and for promoting equal treatment for all; calls on the Commission to address the gaps in the EU anti-discrimination framework and urges the Member States to fully and properly implement existing EU anti-discrimination legislation;