What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report

Added:75. Calls for the promotion of academic freedom as a key component of open and democratic societies;

Added:76. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to recognise transnational repression as a specific human rights threat, establish systems to track, document and address it, provide training and resources to law enforcement, and ensure accountability for perpetrators, including officials and agents of non-EU countries and local enablers; stresses that EU responses should integrate these trends into human rights guidelines and international cooperation;

Added:77. Calls for the EU and its Member States to continue and enhance their support for human rights defenders and to adopt adequate regulatory safeguards in the EU to combat transnational repression;

Added:78. Recalls that the leadership of the EU with regard to AI and digital diplomacy is crucial to promote models that ensure high human right standards, as well as for its relevance and resilience; calls, in this regard, for the EU to scale up its digital and AI diplomacy, to enforce the Digital Services Act and ensure that technology companies and social media platforms comply with human rights obligations and address transnational repression, including against HRDs; calls for the EU and its Member States to ensure that private actors that are enabling digital transnational repression, particularly in the technology sector, are held accountable;

Added:79. Reiterates the importance of the EU Election Observation Missions for the independent and impartial evaluation of the electoral processes they monitor, given the growing interference by some states in other countries’ elections through hybrid tactics including the use of AI; calls on the EEAS and the Commission to analyse and report to Parliament on their initiatives to tackle the challenges posed by AI in electoral processes; calls for the protection of international electoral observers; calls for follow-up to the adoption and implementation of the recommendations of these electoral observation missions in non-EU countries, and for them to be included as a key element in the framework of relations between the EU and the non-EU country in question; highlights Parliament’s contribution to these missions as an essential dimension of its external action, as well as to developing and enhancing their methodology; notes that countries are increasingly refusing to invite the EU to observe their elections and calls on the EEAS to address this situation; welcomes the work of the European Endowment for Democracy and reiterates the need to keep strengthening its work and resources; calls for further EU financial support to the organisation of electoral missions;

Added:80. Calls for strengthened efforts to guarantee the public participation of minorities, as well as to increase the representation of women and young people in electoral processes;

Added:81. Reiterates its condemnation of all forms of racism, intolerance, antisemitism, Islamophobia, persecution of Christians, xenophobia and discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, social class, disability, caste, religion, belief, age, sexual orientation or gender identity; calls for the adoption or the strengthening of mechanisms for reporting discriminatory behaviours, as well as access to effective legal remedies, to help end the impunity of those who engage in such acts;

Added:82. Reiterates its call on the Council to adopt an ambitious mandate for the EU to engage in the ongoing negotiations on a legally binding UN instrument to hold companies accountable for their human rights violations as soon as possible; calls for the EU to ensure the alignment of EU and national legislation with international human rights standards and to strengthen collaboration with other regions and global organisations;

Added:83. Calls for the systematic implementation of ex ante and ex post human rights assessments and for the inclusion of robust enforceable clauses on human rights in agreements between the EU and non-EU countries, supported by a clear set of benchmarks and procedures to be followed in the event of violations; calls on the Commission and the EEAS to ensure that the human rights clauses in current international agreements are actively monitored and effectively enforced, including with suspension, and to improve their communication with Parliament concerning considerations and decisions regarding this enforcement; reiterates that in the event of persistent breaches of human rights clauses by its partner countries, including those in the GSP+ scheme, the EU should react swiftly and decisively, including by suspending the agreements in question if other options prove ineffective;

Added:84. Calls for the creation of a complaint-handling portal, within the framework of EU trade and financial instruments, possibly through the adaptation of the Commission’s Single Entry Point to allow for complaints to be submitted regarding failures to comply with human rights clauses; stresses that this portal should be accessible, citizen-friendly and transparent, and open to citizens of non-EU countries;

Added:85. Encourages careful monitoring and assessment of the capacity of EU delegations so as to ensure that they all have a designated point of contact for cases of human rights violations with sufficient resources to enable an effective and timely response; recommends also that EU delegation staff are regularly trained on the current EU guidelines relating to human rights specific issues; demands that Member States’ embassies engage in the defence and promotion of human rights in non-EU countries in a more vocal way, actively supporting the role of EU delegations;

Added:86. Highlights that in many regions of the world, micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are often the driving force of local economies, with an increasing number of women running them; underlines that MSMEs account for 90 % of businesses, 60 % to 70 % of employment and 50 % of gross domestic product worldwide; highlights the importance of MSMEs in their contribution to the 2030 Agenda and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, namely those on the eradication of poverty and decent working conditions for all;

87. Reiterates its call to prioritise the fight against corruption as a factor enabling attacks on human rights and democracy; urges the Council to finally adopt an anti-corruption sanctions regime, which has been a long-standing priority of Parliament;

Change 33

Removed:39. Underscores that to harness the full potential of the EU Guidelines on HRDs, a comprehensive revision is needed to address the increasing level of sophistication in the persecution and harassment of HRDs, including digital threats and transnational repression; calls for the extended use of the EU GHRSR – EU Magnitsky Act to sanction individuals who persecute or harass HRDs, including environmental and land rights defenders;

Added:88. Calls for the EU to intensify diplomatic engagement with countries that continue to apply the death penalty, which is incompatible with the right to life and with the prohibition of torture, encouraging dialogue and cooperation on human rights issues and providing support for the development of judicial reforms that could lead towards its abolition;

Added:89. Calls for the EU to update the scope of the Anti-torture Regulation to reflect changes in the international security equipment market, changes in use and misuse of law enforcement equipment, as well as emerging challenges, notably extra-custodial torture and ill treatment during the repression of peaceful protests; calls for the EU to promote compliance with the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War;

Added:90. Calls for reinforcing EU initiatives to combat human trafficking focusing on early identification, victim-centred protection (including children), and financial disruption of networks;

Added:91. Underscores that to harness the full potential of the EU Guidelines on HRDs thorough implementation, as well as comprehensive revision, is needed to address the increasing level of sophistication of the persecution and harassment of HRDs, including digital threats and transnational repression;

Added:92. Calls for the extended use of the EU GHRSR – EU Magnitsky Act to sanction individuals who persecute or harass HRDs, including environmental and land rights defenders;

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93. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the European Union Special Representative for Human Rights, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations Secretary-General, the President of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the President of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the European Union Heads of Delegation.