What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

92. Welcomes the Commission’s decision to reverse the withdrawal of the proposed Horizontal Anti-Discrimination Directive; reiterates its calls to unblock the discussions in the Council on the directive without delay and urges Member States to conclude an agreement thereon;

93. Recognises and condemns the existence of structural racism in the EU, driven by stereotypes fostered by public discourse, which result in discrimination against minorities in all areas of their lives; is deeply concerned by individual, structural and institutional forms of racism and xenophobia in the EU and rising discrimination against Arabs, Black Europeans, people of Asian descent, Jewish people, Muslims and Roma people; urges the Member States to combat discrimination at all levels;

94. Stresses the need to fight against all forms of discrimination before the law; expresses its concern over the lack of progress in, and implementation of, equality and anti-discrimination legislation in some Member States; regrets the fact that, despite existing EU legislation such as Directive 2000/78/EC on equal treatment, gaps in the legal framework, implementation and enforcement persist, leaving victims without adequate legal remedies; recalls that Member States’ legal frameworks must enshrine the principle of equal treatment within their legal systems and ensure effective access to justice for all individuals; calls on the Commission to act in cases of non-compliance with these principles;

95. Underlines that access to EU funds should be conditional on full compliance with fundamental rights, including the principle of non-discrimination, and calls for transparent earmarking to guarantee long-term support for human rights and equality-focused CSOs;

96. Urges the Member States, in particular Hungary, to review any laws or policies that discriminate against LGBTIQ+ persons and rainbow families; calls on Hungary to ensure that national constitutional and legislative frameworks cannot be misused to undermine the primacy of EU law or to stigmatise minorities under the pretext of ‘national identity’; strongly condemns the continued application of the so-called child-protection law in Hungary, which constitutes direct discrimination contrary to Articles 7, 11, 21 and 24 of the Charter; calls on the Commission to urgently assess the compatibility of Hungary’s law on the protection of local identity with EU law, in particular the Racial Equality Directive and the Charter;

97. Calls on the Commission to take all necessary measures, including the launch of infringement procedures, where breaches are identified; calls on the Member States to ensure that local housing and residence policies fully comply with the principles of equality and non-discrimination and do not result in ethnic or socio-economic segregation;

98. Underlines that the primacy of EU law constitutes the cornerstone of the functioning of the Union and of respect for the rule of law across Member States, to which all Member States commit upon accession; urges all Member States to comply with the current case-law of the CJEU and the ECtHR; calls on the Commission to carefully monitor the implementation by Member States of judgments delivered by the CJEU and the ECtHR, with particular attention to judgments concerning non-discrimination, gender equality and the rights of minorities;

99. Calls on the Commission to present new ambitious equality and anti-racism strategies for the upcoming years, which also include Parliament’s recommendations, in order to address discrimination comprehensively across all grounds and areas of life; highlights the need to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated approach across all existing and forthcoming strategies, frameworks and action plans in order to maximise synergies and ensure coherence in their implementation;

100. Calls on all Member States to adopt and fully implement national action plans against racism or strategies with ambitious standards, including clear targets, timelines and budgets; calls on the Commission to ensure regular monitoring mechanisms, in cooperation with civil society;

106. Notes with concern the findings of the FRA, which indicate a significant rise in antisemitism across the Union, including online, in public spaces and within local communities; stresses that many Jewish individuals report obstacles to openly expressing their identity and continue to face safety concerns; urges the Commission and the Member States to strengthen prevention, reporting and victim support mechanisms, to accelerate the implementation EU strategy on combatting antisemitism and ensure full enforcement of EU and national law, and to enhance education, awareness-raising and security measures where needed; strongly condemns the rising levels of antisemitism across the EU;

107. Is worried that some policies adopted in some Member States have led to discrimination against certain groups, including those defined by race, colour, ethnic origin, language, religion, disability or sexual orientation; denounces the fact that the effects of such policies include discriminatory legal and law enforcement practices, as well as the delegitimising – and in some instances the criminalising or attempted criminalising – of political, religious and other forms of discourse; calls on the Member States to refrain from such practices or from adopting policies and legislation that could lead to such consequences for these groups;

108. Strongly condemns any form of discrimination and hostility against religious communities, including Islamophobia, and all other forms of discrimination and racism across the EU, including acts of violence, intimidation, hate speech and the display of hate symbols in public spaces; calls on the Member States and candidate countries to make sure that members of all minorities are treated equally before the law;

109. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the discrimination and social exclusion faced by vulnerable groups, including Roma, and to ensure the effective implementation of the EU Roma strategic framework for equality, inclusion and participation; urges the Member States to implement the judgments of the ECtHR concerning the rights of Roma people, and calls on the Commission to monitor their implementation;

110. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to combat discrimination against persons with disabilities and to promote their full inclusion and participation in society; further calls on the EU and the Member States to follow the recommendations of the CRPD to end discrimination against all persons with disabilities and to ensure their equal enjoyment of fundamental rights and full participation in all areas of society;

111. Condemns all forms of violence and coercion against persons with disabilities, particularly forced sterilisation, which constitutes a grave violation of human dignity and bodily integrity; calls on the Commission and the Member States to criminalise forced sterilisation based on disability or legal capacity without exception and to provide reparation to survivors; calls for an EU action plan on equality and intersectionality; urges the recognition and inclusion of national sign languages as part of the EU’s linguistic diversity;

112. Calls for the reinforcement of the EU Disability Platform as the permanent participatory mechanism for policy dialogue with organisations of persons with disabilities; requests that the Commission maintain a transparent monitoring framework for the EU strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities 2021-2030, with annual public reporting and meaningful involvement of civil society; stresses that the EU institutions must lead by example by ensuring accessibility, inclusive recruitment and a significant increase in staff with disabilities within the EU administration; supports the implementation of a disability action plan in EU external action, ensuring that the EU’s development and humanitarian programmes fully integrate the rights of persons with disabilities, in line with Article 32 of the CRPD;

Protecting social and economic rights and addressing environmental impacts

113. Calls on the Commission to ensure that EU funds dedicated to promoting social inclusion and improving living standards – including access to affordable housing, quality education, social security and healthcare – are used effectively and transparently; expresses concern about recent cases of misuse of funds;

114. Urges the Commission to strengthen monitoring, auditing and direct community involvement to guarantee that every euro reaches its intended beneficiaries and contributes to a genuine improvement in the living conditions of disadvantaged and marginalised groups, including ethnic minorities and people affected by the green and digital transition; calls on the Member States to ensure respect for the European Social Charter and the European Pillar of Social Rights; calls on the Commission to closely monitor their implementation and to take action in cases of insufficient implementation;

115. Expresses concern that housing is treated as a commodity; calls for increasing access to social and affordable housing and for adopting long-term, rights-based housing strategies that are also focused on the prevention of homelessness; urges the Commission to ensure that the forthcoming EU affordable housing action plan prioritises accessibility, affordability and energy efficiency, and to consider the establishment of a dedicated fund;

116. Underlines the importance of providing access to justice, transparency and participation in environmental matters; requests that measures aimed at achieving a high level of environmental protection and improving the quality of the environment, as enshrined in Article 37 of the Charter, be integrated into the policies of the Union; reiterates its call for the right to a healthy environment to be recognised in the Charter; urges the EU and the Member States to take immediate action to fight climate change; reiterates its call on the Commission to extend the mandate of the EPPO to include environmental crimes;

117. Recalls that poverty constitutes a violation of human dignity, undermining the full realisation of fundamental rights as recognised by the Charter and Article 9 TFEU; stresses that the fight against poverty must therefore be a central priority for the EU and all Member States; calls for the integration of poverty eradication objectives into relevant EU economic, social and environmental policies through a mainstreaming approach aligned with the European Pillar of Social Rights and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 1); urges the Commission to enshrine the eradication of poverty as a horizontal objective in the next EU strategic cycle and to establish clear governance and monitoring mechanisms;

118. Reiterates that access to an adequate income is a prerequisite for living a life in dignity; notes that, as a follow-up to the Commission proposal for a Council recommendation on adequate minimum income ensuring active inclusion, an EU directive on adequate minimum income could contribute to the goal of reducing poverty by at least half in all Member States by 2030;

119. Calls on the Commission to develop a European anti-poverty strategy with the aim of eliminating poverty by 2035, including measurable intermediate targets; urges the Commission to create an EU anti-poverty task force, with the aim of monitoring the implementation and coordination of the upcoming EU anti-poverty strategy and of tracking multidimensional poverty and inequality across Member States; calls for structured participation of people experiencing poverty and their representative organisations;

120. Highlights that poverty intersects with gender, age, disability, ethnic origin, migration status and rural or regional disadvantage; calls for targeted anti-poverty measures; stresses that combating intersectional poverty requires a combination of measures, including anti-discrimination policy, quality employment, affordable services, and measures enhancing employability;

121. Recognises that the meaningful participation of people experiencing poverty is essential to democratic legitimacy and the effectiveness of anti-poverty policies; calls for permanent dialogue structures at EU and national levels with CSOs and social partners in order to enhance social inclusion;

Looking beyond 2025

122. Recalls that the foundations of the EU project included the well-being of people as a pillar and considers that, regardless of any geopolitical, security and socioeconomic challenges, the EU cannot disregard the social and fundamental rights dimensions on which it was built; requests that the Commission duly take into account the well-being of individuals, including the most vulnerable, in all existing and upcoming EU policies, and to include food and health security in its political security agenda;