On the implementation of the EU LBGTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT - SUMMARY OF FACTS AND FINDINGS

On the 12 of November 2020, the European Commission issued a Communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions called ‘Union of Equality: LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025’. This was the European Commission’s first LGBTIQ Strategy.

Outlining key objectives and steps against discrimination and for LGBTIQ+ equality, safety and inclusiveness, in the European Union and around the world, the LGBTIQ Strategy was considered an historical milestone. When adopted, the Strategy was received with great hope by LGBTIQ+ civil society organisations, human rights defenders and people.

In 2023, the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) decided to prepare a report of implementation on the LGBTIQ Strategy. Making use of its conclusions and recommendations, this implementation report shall have two effects: work as a scrutiny tool, making sure the LGBTIQ Strategy lives up to its commitments; and strengthen the calls for a new Strategy for the coming years.

The draft report is organised in conclusions and recommendations, making reference to the four pillars of the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025: (1) Tackling discrimination against LGBTIQ people; (2) Ensuring LGBTIQ people’s safety; (3) Building LGBTIQ inclusive societies; (4) Leading the call for LGBTIQ equality around the world.

Tackling discrimination against LGBTIQ people

The conclusions of the draft report recognise the discriminations faced by LGBTIQ+ people and their intersections. The rapporteur expresses concern with the discrimination and violence suffered by LGBTIQ+ persons in the EU and their consequences for the full enjoyment of free and dignified lives. The text regrets that the horizontal anti-discrimination directive has been blocked in the Council since 2008.

As part of its recommendations on combatting discrimination, the draft report calls on the EU and Member States for a true mainstreaming of LGBTIQ+ rights across all EU policies, including all grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). Furthermore, it calls the EU and Member States to promote inclusive policies and safe environments in the housing, employment, health, education, culture, sports sectors, among others.

Ensuring LGBTIQ people’s safety

The text recognises current challenges to LGBTIQ+ safety across Europe, highlighting that developments in some Member States have shown that progress on LGBTIQ+ rights cannot be taken for granted. Particularly, the rapporteur condemns that the rise of far right political forces has motivated an increase of the harassment and persecution of LGBTIQ+ persons.

Echoing civil society calls, the rapporteur calls on the European Commission and Member States to recognise SOGIESC as bias-motivations and to typify and criminalise hate speech, hate crimes and violence on that basis, in the physical world or online. Furthermore, the draft report includes calls on the Commission to push Member States to ban ‘conversion practices’ on the grounds of SOGIESC and to ban harmful practices such as forced abortions, forced sterilisations, and genital mutilation. The text highlights that LGBTIQ+ people’s autonomy, bodily and mental health shall be protected under all circumstances.

The rapporteur also includes recommendations for a greater funding and support to services providing support to LGBTIQ+ survivors of gender-based violence, in particular LGBTIQ+ women.

Expressing concern with the risks of recent technologies over the lives and rights of LGBTIQ+ people, the draft report expresses support with all efforts to regulate and minimise the risks of artificial intelligence for LGBTIQ+ people , in particular in AI uses that include surveillance and facial recognition mechanisms.

Expressing disquiet with the risks faced by Human Rights Defenders at the European level, in particular by LGBTIQ+ HRD’s, the draft report urges the European Union to extend its mechanism for the protection of HRD’s to EU member states.

Regarding the safety of LGBTIQ+ people seeking asylum in the EU, the rapporteur expresses deep concern over the implications for the LGBTIQ+ persons of the proposals included in the new Pact on Migration and Asylum. In that sense, the text calls on the EU to grant access to asylum to LGBTIQ+ persons, including those from so-called ‘safe countries’.

Building LGBTIQ inclusive societies

The text recalls that the right to equal treatment and non-discrimination is a fundamental right enshrined in the Treaties and in the Charter, and that equality and the protection of minorities are among the EU values enshrined in Article 2 TEU. While the text recognises that there has been progress in protecting and advancing LGBTIQ+ rights in some Member States, it also concludes that LGBTIQ+ people face intersecting and multiple kinds of exclusion.

In its conclusions, the rapporteur underlines that LGBTIQ+ persons are disproportionately affected by homelessness, poverty and socioeconomic exclusion, regrets that LGBTIQ+ persons still face barriers to access decent jobs, and refers that the access to health should be offered as a free and timely public service. Thus, the draft report calls on EU and Member States to include LGBTIQ+ persons in the design of socioeconomic and housing policies.

Paying attention to specific sectors, the draft report calls the Commission and Member States to adopt measures against the discrimination of LGBTIQ+ persons in the health sector. Particularly, it calls on Member States to expand coverage of all healthcare services, allowing LGBTIQ+ persons to seek specific care, including sexual and reproductive health and technologies.

On employment, the text calls on Member States to duly implement the Directive on equal treatment in employment and occupation. Finally, the text calls on the Commission and Member States to promote safe and inclusive environments in education, culture, sports and other sectors.

The draft report also reiterates European Parliament calls for the protection and promotion of the rights of rainbow families. The report insists that the EU needs to take a common approach to the legal recognition of same-sex marriages and partnerships, and of rainbow parents, including of trans parents, and to legal gender recognition, to ensure the best interests of children in line with case law. Additionally, it insists that rainbow families have a right to free movement in the EU, and the children of rainbow families should not be discriminated against in the acquisition of EU citizenship.

In order to tackle discrimination and to build inclusive public policies tailored for LGBTIQ+ persons, the rapporteur echoes civil society pleas and calls on the Commission to step up data collection on discrimination based on SOGIESC.

Leading the call for LGBTIQ equality around the world

The draft report underlines that the EU must leave no one behind in the protection of fundamental rights. Whereas the EU has made commitments to promote and protect LGBTIQ+ rights worldwide, the draft report also makes mention to those commitments. The draft report calls on the EU to be an example and to assume a leadership role on the promotion of LGBTIQ+ rights around the world, including through funding.

In the case of enlargement countries, the draft report underlines the need for the EU to support them to close legislative gaps regarding the rights of LGBTIQ+ persons. Regarding development aid, it calls on the Commission to ensure that LGBTIQ+ persons are supported as part of wider development aid programmes and to further improve the possibility of regranting and provide flexible funding to civil society organisations and groups working towards the protection and promotion of LGBTIQ+ rights. Furthermore, the rapporteur calls on the EU to continue tackling the stigmatisation and harassment of LGBTIQ+ Human Rights Defenders (HRD’s). These calls are understood as essential for the promotion of safe, inclusive and enabling environments for LGBTIQ+ people and activism.

Finally, the text recalls that European humanitarian aid should be gender, age and LGBTIQ+ sensitive, and in line with humanitarian principles.

A new LGBTIQ Strategy

The overarching conclusion of this draft report is that, in the EU and worldwide, there is much work to be done. Both in Europe and across the world, the rapporteur expresses the need to support and adequately fund civil society organisations and groups working towards the protection and promotion of LGBTIQ+ rights as essential steps for the protection and promotion of LGBTIQ+ rights at the local, national and regional levels.

Thus, the draft report ends by calling on the Commission for preparing a new LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy for 2025-2030. To make it effective, it should be accompanied by an implementation plan, a strong mainstreaming structure and resource allocation, and include a chronogram, ensuring the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) processes, including consultation of LGBTIQ+ organisations.

Finally, the rapporteur calls on the Commission to secure a mandate of the Equality and Diversity Commissioner in the next term.

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

on the implementation of the EU LBGTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025

(2023/2082(INI))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,

– having regard to Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU),

– having regard to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the related case-law of the European Court of Human Rights,

– having regard to the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU),

– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

– having regard to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (‘the Istanbul Convention’),

– having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,

– having regard to the Commission communication of 12 November 2020 entitled ‘Union of Equality: LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025’ (COM(2020)0698),

– having regard to its resolution of 14 September 2021 on LGBTIQ rights in the EU,

– having regard to its resolution of 11 March 2021 on the declaration of the EU as an LGBTIQ Freedom Zone,

– having regard to the Commission proposal of 7 December 2022 for a Council regulation on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition of decisions and acceptance of authentic instruments in matters of parenthood and on the creation of a European Certificate of Parenthood (COM(2022)0695),

– having regard to the study by its Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services of ... 2023 entitled ‘The LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025 – Implementation overview’,

– having regard to the EU Guidelines for Strategies and Action Plans to Enhance LGBTIQ Equality prepared by the Commission in 2022,

– having regard to Rule 54 of its Rules of Procedure, as well as Article 1(1)(e) of, and Annex 3 to, the decision of the Conference of Presidents of 12 December 2002 on the procedure for granting authorisation to draw up own-initiative reports,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A9-0000/2023),

A. whereas LGBTIQ+ rights are fundamental rights;

B. whereas the right to equal treatment and non-discrimination is a fundamental right enshrined in the Treaties and in the Charter, and should be fully respected;

C. whereas equality and the protection of minorities are among the EU values enshrined in Article 2 TEU;

D. whereas progress has been made in protecting and promoting LGBTIQ+ rights in some Member States;

E. whereas discrimination based on actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) persists throughout the EU;

F. whereas developments in some Member States have shown that progress on LGBTIQ+ rights cannot be taken for granted;

G. whereas the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) Europe’s 2023 Annual Review has documented the highest numbers in violence against LGBTIQ+ persons in 12 years;

H. whereas the growth of anti-rights rhetoric has contributed to creating a hostile environment for those advocating LGBTIQ+ rights;

I. whereas building safe, free, inclusive societies for LGBTIQ+ persons implies addressing multiple and intersectional manifestations of discrimination, exclusion and violence;

J. whereas LGBTIQ+ persons face discrimination and violence worldwide;

K. whereas the European Union has made commitments to promote and protect LGBTIQ+ rights worldwide;

L. whereas Parliament’s LGBTIQ+ Intergroup has called for a report on the implementation of the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025;

Main conclusions

1. Welcomes the Commission’s LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025;

2. Expresses concern about the discrimination and violence suffered by LGBTIQ+ persons in the EU and their consequences for the full enjoyment of free and dignified lives;

3. Regrets the fact that the horizontal anti-discrimination directive has been blocked in the Council since 2008;

4. Underlines that LGBTIQ+ persons are disproportionately affected by homelessness, poverty and socio-economic exclusion;

5. Regrets the fact that LGBTIQ+ persons still face barriers to accessing decent jobs;

6. Underlines that access to healthcare should be offered as a free and timely public service;

7. Expresses deep concern over the implications for LGBTIQ+ persons of the proposals included in the New Pact on Migration and Asylum; expresses concern that trans and intersex persons face even more obstacles in the process of applying for asylum;

8. Condemns the fact that the rise of far-right political forces has motivated an increase in the harassment and persecution of LBGTIQ+ persons;

9. Underlines the need for the EU to support enlargement countries to close legislative gaps regarding the rights of LGBTIQ+ persons;

10. Insists that the EU needs to take a common approach to the legal recognition of same-sex marriages and partnerships, and of rainbow parents, including of trans parents, and to legal gender recognition, to ensure the best interests of children in line with CJEU case-law;

11. Insists that rainbow families have a right to free movement in the EU, and the children of rainbow families should not be discriminated against in acquiring EU citizenship;

12. Emphasises the urgency for the Commission to facilitate access to funding for civil society organisations (CSOs) working for the human rights of LGBTIQ+ persons in the Union and in third countries;

13. Recalls that European humanitarian aid should be gender-, age- and LGBTIQ+-sensitive, and in line with humanitarian principles;

14. Underlines that the EU must leave no one behind in the protection of fundamental rights;

Recommendations

15. Calls for the EU and the Member States to ensure the true mainstreaming of LGBTIQ+ rights across all EU policies;

16. Calls for the EU and the Member States to include SOGIESC in the grounds taken into account in the EU anti-discrimination legislation, in line with Parliament’s mandate on the proposal for a directive on standards for equality bodies;

17. Calls for the EU and the Member States to include LGBTIQ+ persons in the design of socio-economic and housing policies;

18. Calls on the Member States to implement the Directive on equal treatment in employment and occupation;

19. Calls on the Commission to monitor closely the implementation of EU law in the Member States and to launch infringement procedures in cases where the fundamental rights of LGBTIQ+ persons have been violated; calls on the Commission to ensure that Member States comply with the judgments of the CJEU, in particular on LGBTIQ+ persons and rainbow families crossing borders within the EU;

20. Calls on the Member States to expand coverage of all healthcare services, allowing LGBTIQ+ persons to seek specific care, including sexual and reproductive health and technologies;

21. Urges the Commission and the Member States to adopt measures to combat discrimination against LGBTIQ+ persons in the health sector;

22. Calls on the Member States to provide greater funding for gender-based violence services and for them to support LGBTIQ+ victims, in particular LGBTIQ+ women, addressing their needs and experiences;

23. Supports Parliament’s mandate in the framework of the negotiations on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act to minimise the biases and risks created for LGBTIQ+ persons, in particular in AI uses that include surveillance and facial recognition mechanisms;

24. Calls for the EU to give access to asylum to LGBTIQ+ persons, including those from so-called safe countries;

25. Calls on the Commission to monitor the impacts and fund CSOs investigating the anti-gender movement, in order to effectively address it;

26. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to define and criminalise hate speech, hate crimes and violence motivated by SOGIESC bias, including online;

27. Calls on the Commission to push Member States to ban ‘conversion practices’ on the grounds of SOGIESC;

28. Calls for a ban on genital mutilation, in particular intersex genital mutilation and female genital mutilation;

29. Calls for a ban on forced abortions and on forced sterilisations; underlines the importance of LGBTIQ+ persons’ autonomy and physical and mental health;

30. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote safe and inclusive environments in education, culture, sports and other sectors;

31. Calls for the EU to set an example and assume a leadership role on the promotion of LGBTIQ+ rights around the world;

32. Calls on the Commission to ensure that LGBTIQ+ persons are given support as part of wider development aid programmes;

33. Calls on the Commission to further improve the possibility of regranting and to provide flexible funding;

34. Calls for the EU to continue tackling the stigmatisation and harassment of LGBTIQ+ human rights defenders (HRDs) in the EU and in non-EU countries;

35. Urges the EU to extend such protections to HRDs in EU Member States;

36. Calls on the Commission to step up data collection on discrimination based on SOGIESC and to use such data in making inclusive public policies tailored for LGBTIQ+ persons;

37. Calls on the Commission to draw up a new LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy for 2025-2030, based on strong commitments, reflecting the calls of Parliament, CSOs and of LGBTIQ+ persons;

38. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the next LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy is accompanied by an implementation plan, a strong mainstreaming structure and resource allocation; to include a timeline, ensuring the monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning processes, including the consultation of LGBTIQ+ organisations;

39. Calls on the Commission to secure a portfolio for an Equality and Diversity Commissioner in the next term;

40. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and candidate countries, and the subnational parliaments and local authorities of the Member States and candidate countries.