EU Rights Review 2024‑2025

What the resolution is about

• The European Parliament (EP) reviews how the EU and its 27 member states protect basic rights—freedom, equality, safety, privacy, and fair trials—during 2024‑2025.
• It asks the EU Commission, the Council, and member states to:

• Verify that EU laws and court decisions are followed.
• Act swiftly when a country violates the rule of law, democracy, or fundamental rights.
• Prevent EU funds from supporting abuses or discrimination.
• Strengthen protection for vulnerable groups such as women, children, migrants, people with disabilities, Roma, LGBTIQ people, ethnic minorities, journalists, and civil‑society organisations.

Key concerns raised by the EP

• Rule of law & democracy – Weak courts, press, civil society, and minority rights.
• Corruption – Linked to organised crime and erodes public trust.
• Whistle‑blowers – Inadequate protection for those exposing wrongdoing.
• Pre‑trial detention – Overuse or excessive duration.
• Media freedom – Attacks, legal harassment, “SLAPP” lawsuits, and surveillance.
• Surveillance & spyware – Use of tools like Pegasus against journalists, activists, and politicians.
• Disinformation & AI – Algorithms spread fake news, hate speech, and polarisation.
• Women’s rights & gender‑based violence – High violence rates, limited abortion access, cyber‑violence.
• LGBTIQ rights – Rising anti‑LGBTIQ laws, hate speech, and conversion practices.
• Racism & discrimination – Structural racism, xenophobia, anti‑Roma, anti‑Jewish, anti‑Muslim, anti‑Black bias.
• Disability rights – Barriers, forced sterilisation, lack of inclusion.
• Migration & asylum – Border mistreatment, “externalisation” of asylum, insufficient investigations.
• Prison conditions – Overcrowding, poor medical care, abuse.
• Civil society – Funding cuts, legal restrictions, intimidation of NGOs.
• Social & economic rights – Poverty, housing shortages, weak social protection, environmental harm.

What the EP is asking the EU to do

• Rule‑of‑law toolbox – Use Article 7, conditionality, and infringement procedures faster and more consistently.
• Fast‑track court rulings – Ensure CJEU and ECHR decisions are implemented immediately.
• Protect whistle‑blowers – Enact clear laws that shield those exposing corruption or abuse.
• Limit pre‑trial detention – Apply detention only when absolutely necessary and review it regularly.
• Guarantee media freedom – Protect journalists from lawsuits, harassment, and surveillance; enforce the Media Freedom Act and Anti‑SLAPP Directive.
• Regulate spyware – Require judicial oversight, transparency, and victim redress.
• Combat disinformation – Strengthen the Digital Services Act, AI Act, and political‑advertising rules; monitor social‑media algorithms.
• Advance gender equality – Enforce the new LGBTIQ strategy, protect women from violence, ensure safe abortion and gender‑based crime laws.
• Protect LGBTIQ people – Ban conversion practices, enforce anti‑discrimination laws, recognise same‑sex partnerships.
• Fight racism – Implement the new anti‑racism strategy, enforce equality directives, support Roma and minority rights.
• Support people with disabilities – Apply the CRPD, stop forced sterilisation, improve accessibility and inclusion.
• Ensure fair migration policies – Investigate border mistreatment, respect the right to asylum, stop “externalisation” that violates rights.
• Improve prison conditions – Follow the Mandela Rules, provide medical care, prevent overcrowding.
• Strengthen civil society – Provide stable funding, remove legal barriers, protect NGOs and human‑rights defenders.
• Address poverty and social rights – Create an EU anti‑poverty strategy, improve housing, health and social protection.
• Protect the environment – Recognise the right to a healthy environment, fight climate change, enforce environmental crime laws.

How the EP wants the EU to act

1. Regular monitoring – Publish up‑to‑date reports on each country’s respect for rights.
2. Clear deadlines – Set concrete dates for fixing violations.
3. Co‑operation with international bodies – Work with the Council of Europe, the UN, and the ECHR to enforce judgments and share best practices.
4. Funding that respects values – Ensure EU money never supports spyware, anti‑LGBTIQ laws, or Charter‑violating activities.
5. Civil‑society platform – Create a European space where NGOs can report threats, receive help, and share information.
6. Education and awareness – Promote media literacy, digital skills, and knowledge of rights in schools and universities.

Bottom line
The EP reminds that the EU was founded on human dignity, freedom, equality, and the rule of law. In 2024‑2025 many member states are drifting away from those values. The resolution calls for stronger, faster, and more consistent action from the Commission, the Council, and all member states to protect everyone’s rights—especially the most vulnerable—and to preserve the EU’s democratic foundations.

Broader context

This resolution is not a new EU law, but a political statement by the European Parliament that links together many already existing rights and treaties. It builds on the EU Treaties (Article 2 TEU), the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and recent EU rules like the Digital Services Act, AI Act, Media Freedom Act and Anti‑SLAPP Directive. europarl.europa

The Parliament is responding to several alarming trends:

• Some countries have weakened courts, independent media and civil‑society organisations, and delayed or ignored rulings from the European Court of Justice (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). europarl.europa
• The use of spyware (such as Pegasus), mass surveillance, online disinformation and AI‑driven manipulation has increased, raising questions about how fairly elections and public debate are conducted. europarl.europa

By adopting this resolution, the European Parliament sends a strong signal to the Commission and the Council that they must use their rule‑of‑law tools more consistently (for example Article 7, infringement procedures and the conditionality mechanism that can block EU funds when rights are violated). europarl.europa

Impact on people living in the EU

For an ordinary person in the EU, this resolution means that the European Parliament wants all EU countries to enforce existing rights more seriously, not create many entirely new rights. europarl.europa

In practice, this could lead to:

• Stronger protection when reporting abuse: Better whistle‑blower laws may make it safer for workers, journalists or public‑sector employees to expose corruption or misconduct without fear of losing their job. europarl.europa
• Fewer unnecessary imprisonments: If governments limit pre‑trial detention and overcrowded prisons, more people may be released on reasonable conditions while their case is being decided. europarl.europa
• Safer journalism and activism: By enforcing the Media Freedom Act and Anti‑SLAPP Directive, the EU aims to reduce abusive lawsuits and harassment that push journalists and NGOs into silence. europarl.europa
• Better support for vulnerable groups: The Parliament asks for concrete action on violence against women, LGBTIQ rights, disability inclusion, anti‑racism measures and fair treatment of migrants and asylum seekers, which can translate into better services, protection orders and non‑discrimination checks in public institutions. europarl.europa

Possible indirect impact outside the EU

Even though the resolution mainly targets EU member states, it can still affect people outside the EU in a few ways:

• Migrants and asylum seekers from outside the EU may benefit if EU countries are forced to stop pushbacks at borders, improve asylum procedures and respect the right to seek protection under international law. europarl.europa
• Vulnerable activists and journalists from other countries may be indirectly safeguarded when EU‑funded projects or diplomatic talks insist that no EU money supports spyware or repressive tools used against them. europarl.europa

In short, this resolution is a manageable “to‑do list” for EU institutions and governments, aimed at making existing rights work better in daily life for everyone in and connected to the EU. europarl.europa