A dozen member states, including France, Germany and Hungary, were opposed to including rape in the legislation.
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A mixed victory. On Tuesday February 6, the European Parliament and EU countries reached an agreement on a first directive against violence against women, to better combat female genital mutilation, forced marriage and the disclosure of intimate images. However, MEPs deplored the fact that rape was not included in the legislation, due to opposition, for legal reasons, from some member states.
The project, as presented on March 8, 2022 by the European Commission, provided in Article 5 for a definition of rape based on the absence of consent. The European Parliament and countries like Belgium, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg and Sweden were on the same line.
But a dozen member states, notably France, Germany and Hungary, were opposed to the inclusion of rape in the legislation, believing that the EU has no competence in the matter and that the text risked to be rejected by European justice in the event of an appeal. The Council’s legal service had also pointed out “risks” about this question.
Harmonized sanctions
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen welcomed this agreement on a text which allows “guarantee equal protection for all women, in all EU countries, and in cyberspace”. “It is high time that women enjoy this fundamental right to be free from violence”she reacted on X.
This directive criminalizes at European level female genital mutilation, forced marriage, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, cyberharassment, incitement to hatred or violence online. This opens the way to harmonized sanctions within the 27 EU countries.
Twelve NGOs, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, recently accused member states opposed to European harmonization of the definition of rape of “taking refuge behind restrictive legal interpretations of EU competences”.