Importance of consent-based rape legislation in the EU

22.4.2026 A100047/1

Amendment 1

Mathilde Androuët, Pascale Piera, Margarita de la Pisa Carrión

on behalf of the PfE Group

Report A100047/2026

Evin Incir, Joanna ScheuringWielgus

Importance of consent-based rape legislation in the EU

(2025/2040(INI))

Motion for a resolution (Rule 188(3) of the Rules of Procedure) replacing non-legislative motion for a resolution A100047/2026

European Parliament resolution on the importance of consent-based rape legislation in the EU

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Articles 78, 82, 83 and 84 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),

– having regard to Article 1 of Council Decision (EU) 2023/1076 of 1 June 2023 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence with regard to matters relating to judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement,

– having regard to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, as regards matters relating to judicial cooperation in criminal matters, known as the Istanbul Convention (the Convention),

– having regard to Article 36, paragraph 193 of the Explanatory Report to the Convention,

– having regard to Directive (EU) 2024/1385 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on combating violence against women and domestic violence,

– having regard to Opinion 1/19 of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 6 October 2021,

– having regard to the judgment of the Court of Justice of 4 September 2018 in Case C-244/17 concerning the Commission’s application for the annulment of Council Decision (EU) 2017/477 of 3 March 2017 on the position to be adopted on behalf of the European Union within the Cooperation Council established by the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Kazakhstan, of the other part, as regards the working arrangements of the Cooperation Council, the Cooperation Committee, specialised subcommittees or any other bodies,

– having regard to Opinion 14277/22 of the Legal Service of the Council of the European Union of 31 October 2022 on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Legal Service’s opinion),

– having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas one in three women in the EU is a victim of gender-based and sexual violence;

B. whereas, in accordance with Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilisation or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity are considered crimes against humanity;

C. whereas certain extremist or fundamentalist movements openly call for sexual violence against individuals, particularly women, and promote ideas contrary to gender equality, and whereas these phenomena are particularly prevalent in digital spaces;

D. whereas, as exemplified by the dissolution of the European Institute of Human Sciences by the French authorities in September 2025 and the dissolution of the Collective Against Islamophobia in France in December 2020, movements, associations or individuals that legitimise physical or cyber violence, in particular corporal punishment, and that disseminate discriminatory views that undermine human dignity, particularly against women (subordination of women to their husbands, legitimisation of beatings, restriction of rights, advocacy of practices such as polygamy, child marriage and sexual coercion or marital rape) must be subject to appropriate sanctions by the competent national authorities;

E. whereas according to Article 84 TFEU, ‘the European Parliament and the Council... may adopt measures to promote and support the action of Member States in the field of crime prevention, excluding any harmonisation of the laws and regulations of the Member States’, which clearly indicates that any EU action in this field must strictly comply with the principle of conferral of powers and the principle of subsidiarity;

F. whereas rape, as a stand-alone offence, is not included in the exhaustive list of areas of particularly serious crime with a cross-border dimension set out in Article 83, paragraph 1 TFEU, in particular the EU crime entitled ‘trafficking in human beings and sexual exploitation of women and children’, which does not cover rape but rather organised prostitution and procuring, as noted in the Legal Service’s opinion;

G. whereas the EU became a party to the Istanbul Convention in 2023, despite not all of its Member States having ratified it;

H. whereas all 27 EU Member States already have national laws that define and criminalise acts of rape and sexual violence;

I. whereas the reference to Article 82(2) TFEU, alongside Article 83 TFEU, in the EU’s instrument of signature of the Istanbul Convention has no binding effect, and whereas paragraph 193 of the Convention’s Explanatory Report leaves the Parties free to determine the exact wording of their legislation;

J. whereas Opinion 1/19 of the Court of Justice of 6 October 2021 concludes that the obligations set out in the Istanbul Convention are of ‘extremely limited scope’ for the EU, in view of the scope provided for in Article 83(1) TFEU, to the extent that the article should not ‘be included among the legal bases’ justifying this desire to harmonise the criminal definition of rape on the basis of consent;

K. whereas in accordance with Article 1 of the Council Decision on the conclusion of the Convention, the Union remains solely responsible for the implementation of the provisions of the Convention in relation to matters concerning judicial cooperation in criminal matters, asylum and non-refoulement, insofar as these fall within its exclusive competence without prejudice to the competence of the Member States in these matters;

L. whereas, with agencies such as Europol, Interpol and Frontex, the EU has the necessary tools to ensure the proper application of the provisions of the Convention in the areas falling within its competence;

M. whereas in accordance with Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union, the EU must provide its citizens with an area of freedom, security and justice; whereas, although national security remains the sole responsibility of each Member State, in accordance with Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union, Member States may draw on the agencies and tools made available by the Union to achieve this objective;

N. whereas ensuring security is the primary prerequisite for protecting victims of rape and sexual violence, including by imposing stringent penalties on perpetrators, ensuring the effective enforcement of sentences, removing non-European sex offenders, enhancing the effectiveness of investigations and strengthening judicial resources;

O. whereas the risk of legal uncertainty associated with the introduction of a broad and subjective concept of lack of consent is likely to undermine proceedings, security and the rehabilitation of victims, as demonstrated by the experience in Spain, where the so-called ‘only yes means yes’ law led to a reduction in the sentences of more than 200 sex offenders and the release of some of them, forcing the Spanish Government to acknowledge the need to reform its legislation once again;

P. whereas this reform may also call into question the principle of the presumption of innocence guaranteed by Article 48 of the European Convention on Human Rights;

1. Expresses, in the clearest possible terms, its full and unreserved support for victims of rape and sexual violence; insists that protecting and supporting victims and imposing stringent penalties on perpetrators must be absolute priorities;

2. Recalls that all EU Member States already have national laws that define and criminalise acts of rape and sexual violence in accordance with their national circumstances, and therefore rejects any framework aimed at harmonising this definition at EU level;

3. Stresses that Article 83 TFEU cannot be interpreted broadly so as to serve as a legal basis for legislative proposals relating to the offence of rape;

4. Rejects any circumvention of the provisions of the Treaties aimed at politically instrumentalising women’s issues in order to impose the normalisation and dissemination of woke concepts such as rape culture, intersectionality, secondary victimisation, gender-responsive budgeting, gender performativity, gender deconstruction, gender fluidity, the de-gendering of language, or any other expressions seeking to render women invisible in their biological dimension, such as ‘person with a uterus’, ‘menstruating person’, ‘person who gives birth’ or ‘person with a vagina’;

5. Stresses the need to put forward measures or recommendations aimed at effectively combating practices that endanger the physical integrity and dignity of individuals, particularly women, such as the excessive use of puberty blockers, especially among minors, genital mutilation, honour killings and forced marriages;

6. Calls on the Member States and the Council to focus their efforts on strengthening judicial cooperation in criminal matters in order to effectively combat all forms of rape and sexual violence, including by ensuring the effective enforcement of sentences and the protection of minors, improving the interoperability of the European information systems of the eu-LISA agency available to national authorities, promptly deploying the European Criminal Records Information System – Third Country Nationals, promoting joint investigations into cases of rape and sexual violence, particularly those involving online networks, strengthening the mechanism for recognising decisions on the protection of victims of rape or sexual violence, and sharing best practices between national authorities regarding the prevention and prosecution of rape and sexual violence;

7. Stresses the need to ensure the deportation of non-European sex offenders convicted within the territory of the Union;

8. Stresses the need to ensure effective control of the Schengen area’s borders in order to limit the entry of sex offenders into EU territory;

9. Reaffirms that the protection of victims of sexual violence and rape requires, first and foremost, clear laws that are enforceable and comply with the Treaties, in particular the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality;

10 Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.

Or. en