Activities of Jaak MADISON related to 2023/2068(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on extending the list of EU crimes to hate speech and hate crime
Amendments (23)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2
Citation 2
– having regard to the Treaty on European Union (TEU), and in particular Articles 2, 3, 4(2) and 6 thereof,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3
Citation 3
– having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and in particular Articles 19, 67(1) and 83(1) thereof,
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the Union shall respect the Member States' national identities, inherent in their fundamental structures, political and constitutional, as enshrined in Article 4 (2) of the Treaty;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas the Union shall constitute an area of freedom, security and justice with respect for fundamental rights and the different legal systems and traditions of the Member States, as enshrined in Article 67 (1) of the TEU;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas it is important to consider the specificities of the criminal systems of the Member States. Even within a supranational environment, criminal law shall always retain its particular nature, since it constitutes the sternest mechanism of social control;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
Ad. whereas under the principle of subsidiarity, in areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence, the Union shall act only if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas hate speech and hate crime are particularly serious crimes and affect not only the individual victims and their communities, causing them suffering and limiting their fundamental rights and freedoms, but also society as a whole, undermining the foundations of the EUbut also society as a whole;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas in the last few decades there has been a sharp rise in discrimination, hate crime and hate speech across the EU4 , an increase in various forms of racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance and an alarming spike in online and offline hate speech and incitement; whereas this is being exacerbated in many Member States by extremist and populist movements andby the multiplier effect of the online environment and social media, which favours revictimisation; _________________ 4 See, for instance, the Annual Report on ECRI’s activities covering the period from 1 January to 31 December 2019 and the Annual Report on ECRI’s activities covering the period from 1 January to 31 December 2020, and the study commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs entitled ‘Hate speech and hate crime in the EU and the evaluation of online content regulation approaches’, July 2020.
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the current EU framework only covers hate speech and hate crimes on the grounds of race, skin colour, religion and national or ethnic origin; whereas there is a clear need to effectively address hate speech and hate crimes based on other grounds, such as sex, sexual orientation, age and disability;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas the response of EU criminal lawlegislation to hate speech and hate crime should be strong and proportionate in order to duly protect the victim and give due weight to freedom of expression;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas in 2021, the Commission presented a communication on ‘A more inclusive and protective Europe: extending the list of EU crimes to hate speech and hate crime’ with a view to adding hate crime and hate speech to the list of areas of crime where Parliament and the Council may establish minimum rules concerning the definition of criminal offences and sanctions applicable in all EU Member States as provided for in Article 83(1) TFEU; whereas the Council must adopt a decision in this regard;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas this Council decision would be a first step in creating the necessary legal basis to adopt, as a second step, a common legal framework to combat hate speech and hate crime across the EU; whereas such a common legal framework is urgently needed to combat hate speech and hate crime on a common European basis in order to ensure consistent protection of the potential victims of such acts across the Union;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas Article 83(1) TFEU requires unanimity in the Council to identify ‘other areas of crime’;, whereas this requirement proved detrimental to achieving necessary common progress in an area where the common European interest should prevailich is a crucial element ensuring Member States' sovereignty;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P a (new)
Recital P a (new)
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P b (new)
Recital P b (new)
Pb. whereas a wide definition of hate speech may create ambiguity as to which cases will be prosecuted, leading to uncertainty among society with regards to whether the freedom of expression would be restricted at the expense of plurality of ideas and democracy;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P c (new)
Recital P c (new)
Pc. whereas criminal law should follow the principle of nullum crimen nulla poena sine lege certa which states that the description of the offence should be sufficiently precise and leave no ambiguity as to what constitutes a crime;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. UrgInvites the Council to adopt acarefully consider the decision to include hate speech and hate crime as a criminal offence within the list under Article 83(1) TFEU, so that the Commission can initiate the second stage of the procedure;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Member States to work together responsibly and constructively to resume negotiations within the Council in order to adopt a Council decision before the end of the current parliamentary term;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. UrgesCalls on the Member States to agree with the draft decision or at least not to oppose its adoptioncarefully consider their national legal systems and the needs of their societies;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. DeplorUnderlines the fact that Article 83 TFEU requires unanimity in the Council, and calls for the passerelle clauselegal framework of the EU to be activarespected;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Recalls that freedom of expression should not be exploited as a shield for hate speech and hate crimes, but neither should it be unjustifiably restrictedthe criminalisation of hate speech would restrict freedom of expression which is a fundamental right, as provided by Article 11 of the Charter;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14