Rapporteur:

Cristian PÎRVULESCU

Co-rapporteur:

Milena ANGELOVA

Advisor	Claudiu CRACIUN (for the rapporteur, Group III) Tellervo KYLÄ-HARAKKA-RUONALA (for the co-rapporteur, Group I)
Plenary Assembly decision	31.5.2024
Referral	28.2.2024
Legal basis	Article 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Section responsible	Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship
Adopted in section	23.5.2024
Adopted at plenary session	31.5.2024
Plenary session No	588
Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions)	144/0/3

1.   Conclusions and recommendations

1.1.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) welcomes the Communication (1) and acknowledges the importance and urgency of combatting all types of hate, irrespective of the motives for it and the forms it takes. It commits to eradicating any form of hate, and underlines that it is an European cause, stemming from the democratic foundations of the EU: ‘Drawing inspiration from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe’ (2), ‘[t]he Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail’ (3).

1.2.

The role of CSOs should be highlighted. Even though the Communication indicates several initiatives and programmes involving CSOs, this is far from the comprehensive partnership needed. More resources have to be made available for CSOs working with individuals, groups and communities extensively exposed to hate, especially through volunteering. The resources should be steered towards facilitating the reporting of incidents, mediation with law enforcement agencies, legal assistance and assistance in dealing with the effects of hate.

1.3.

Combating hate is an existential imperative, and all institutions must take coordinated action. Fighting disinformation (4), foreign interference, and covert and malicious foreign financing of hate inducing and spreading organisations should be priorities for the EU and Member States. The EESC underlines the need for wide-ranging information and awareness-raising campaigns that are part of an orchestrated effort to eradicate any forms of hate and calls for the mobilisation of sufficient resources for promptly delivering on this important cause.

1.4.

Efforts to identify and combat the ‘ecosystems’ of hatred off- and online should be stepped up. These ecosystems are already having significant political and electoral effects in Europe. This should be a priority of the new European Parliament and the Commission. Member States should be assisted in creating safe online spaces for expressing ideas and preferences free of hate and disinformation.

1.5.

The EESC notes with serious concern that the language of discrimination and hate is being promoted in some cases by political and governmental players, and not only by fringe groups and organisations. Participating in political competition is neither an excuse for spreading hate, nor does it make it permissible, but it is a major, additional responsibility.

1.6.

The EESC urges the Commission and the Member States to address all forms of hate affecting public and educational spaces, businesses and workplaces. The EESC notes that there is a growing anti-immigrant and anti-refugee rhetoric directed against third-country nationals living, studying and working in the EU. Lacking the protection of citizenship, these people are highly vulnerable to attacks and discrimination. The Member States should do more to uncover and target hate and hate crimes against them.

1.7.

As well as addressing hate that focuses on race, religion and ethnic origin, it is crucial for the EU to adopt a comprehensive approach and fight hate based on any protected human characteristics, including sex, gender, age, disability and sexual orientation. The EESC thus endorses and emphasises the need for effective implementation of the various strategies and initiatives promoting equality and non-discrimination (5). It stresses that the approach to fighting hate should primarily be the same, irrespective of the characteristic in question.

1.8.

The EESC calls for serious efforts by the Member States to address the spread of hate and prosecute hate-based crimes, to fully inform the public of the definition of hate and to encourage them to report any criminal cases to law enforcement. The EESC underlines that freedom of expression must be preserved and safeguarded but never accepted as a justification for hate and discrimination. The Member States’ law enforcement agencies should be fully trained to recognise and handle such cases properly, with due respect for the victims’ vulnerabilities and fundamental rights. More EU support, including financial, is needed in this area, especially for civil society organisations (CSOs) already working in this field.

1.9.

The Communication acknowledges that online platforms are particularly prone to spreading hate. Under the Digital Act, the EU has taken steps towards regulating platforms and creating procedures for reporting and fast removal of content, including trusted flaggers and corporate specialised structures. While a welcome development, the anti-hate drive is underdeveloped in scale and impact. The role and expertise of the flaggers should be expanded to consistently cover all types of online hate biases. The fact that there are swift procedures for removing some types of content, such as content inciting terrorism, shows that quick action is possible. Media and digital literacy (6) should be improved to ensure all witnesses of online hate speech can report them to the platforms.

1.10.

The work of the High-Level Group on combating hate speech and hate crime should be better operationalised. Efforts to develop training and capacity-building for social partners and CSOs to contribute to preventing hate crime should be enhanced, as should efforts to train law enforcement, to improve hate crime recording and comprehensive data collection, and to encourage victims to report hate crime. These efforts should be subject to reporting and benchmarking to identify progress at national level.

1.11.

Reporting of hate crimes by CSOs and potential victims should also be standardised and institutionalised at EU level. Reporting mechanisms must be available and accessible to all victims. While law enforcement agencies are responsible for recording and investigating hate crimes, there are significant issues with reporting and compiling reliable statistics across the EU. Thus, the EESC encourages the Commission to create an online platform for swift reporting by CSOs and human rights defenders of hate-related incidents.

1.12.

The Commission should organise a comprehensive review of the work of those CSOs actively working to prevent hate speech as well as trusted flaggers, and propose measures to make their work more effective and scaled to the current challenges. The Commission should fund trusted flaggers better and channel more resources into the process, while not burdening CSOs and organisations with difficult procedures. The EU should insist that large online platforms prevent their algorithms from amplifying hate. On the other hand, it should encourage platforms to adopt transparent and effective detection and moderation policies, designed with the help of human rights organisations.

1.13.

More resources should be put into identifying and combating ecosystems of hatred online from the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme and Horizon Europe, allowing existing educational and research capacities to contribute to this objective. The funding should go to institutions and organisations in order to understand specific local and national situations. Simultaneously, funding in Erasmus+ focused on citizenship education should be increased, to support learners in understanding the signs of hate speech, the implications, the context and the way in which they can protect themselves while also preventing its further perpetration.

2.   General comments

2.1.

The EESC shares the grave concern of all the EU institutions regarding the unacceptable rise of religion, sex, gender and sexual orientation-related incidents and negative sentiments (7). It is totally unacceptable that one out of three women experience some type of violence – this must be stopped, as the EU is home to every person living within its boundaries, and all people must be protected from hate and hate-based crimes.

2.2.

Spreading and inciting hate is a tool used by various actors and states to undermine democracy, fundamental rights, and trust in the EU and its Member States. At the individual level, hate is closely linked to mental health (8), wellbeing, and physical safety. Hate also impacts the education sector, as the health impact on and discriminatory actions against learners can hinder their access to, progression in and completion of their individual education pathways. Therefore, youth involvement is especially vital in this context.

2.3.

Besides being a matter of human rights, societal atmosphere and individual wellbeing, hate in its various forms is also an economic issue. It weakens the business and investment environment by increasing uncertainty and instability. It may also restrict the availability of the workforce by creating obstacles to the mobility of the workforce and talent. It may also be used by foreign actors as a tool to create division to promote their geoeconomic interests.

2.4.

The EESC draws attention to the solid international legal framework against hatred. UN and Council of Europe human rights instruments provide the EU with binding, complementary and ambitious tools to fight discrimination and hate. They should be streamlined and supported by the resources of the EU and its Member States.

2.5.

The EESC urges the Commission and Member States to address all forms of hate affecting public and educational spaces, businesses, workplaces, and CSOs. The EESC notes that there is a growing anti-immigrant rhetoric against third-country persons living, studying and working in the EU. Lacking the protection of citizenship, these people are very vulnerable to attacks and discrimination. The Member States should do more to uncover and target the hate and hate crimes against them.

2.6.

The EESC also notes the increase in bias-motivated violence against LGBTIQ+ people and urges Member States to act more decisively to protect them.

2.7.

In the case of people with disabilities, more work should be done to prevent abuse and uncover hate and discrimination, as it is routinely ignored by authorities and underreported. It is also essential that Member States address disability-based bias motivation in their legislation on hate crime.

2.8.

Considering that violence against healthcare professionals has increased, safeguarding their wellbeing and security is essential for maintaining the integrity of healthcare systems and upholding fundamental values for patients and all of society. The EESC calls on Member States to implement robust measures to prevent and address violence against them by providing support structures and resources as well as conducive legislation.

2.9.

The EESC draws attention to the territorial and spatial aspect of discrimination and hate. In many cases, disadvantaged people and communities are concentrated in certain areas, frequently lacking in proper housing and social infrastructures. It is important that urban planning by local and central authorities be informed by the need to give vulnerable and marginalised groups access to urban goods.

2.10.

The EESC reiterates, following decisions of the European Court of Justice, that while recognising the right to freedom of expression, this must not be used as cover for spreading hate (9) and vice versa.

2.11.

The EESC supports the full implementation of the 2008 Framework Decision on combatting racism and xenophobia, which establishes a criminal law framework to ensure that serious manifestations of racism and xenophobia are punishable. The Framework Decision requires Member States to criminalise hate speech –public incitement to violence or hatred on grounds of race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin – and to duly take into account racist motives when sentencing perpetrators.

2.12.

The EESC thus finds justified the launch of infringement proceedings against 13 Member States since October 2020 with a view to seeing the Framework Decision transposed. These proceedings led to action by 10 Member States, showing that we need strong EU legal instruments, active pursuit of transposition by the Commission and additional efforts to encourage Member States to act.

2.13.

The EESC reiterates its position that hate speech and hate crime should be included in the list of EU crimes, and calls on the Council to do so, allowing minimum rules to be established concerning the definition of criminal offences and penalties in this area of crime (10).

2.14.

The EESC supports the creation of a network of national law enforcement contact points specialised in criminal investigations of hate speech and hate crime to enhance coordination with EU-level activities such as under the High-Level Group on combating hate speech and hate crime, cross-border support to investigations, and exchange of good practices and tools. The Commission should do more to ensure that the contact points are properly staffed and placed within the law enforcement framework and that they work effectively at central, regional and local levels.

2.15.

The EESC hopes that the European Parliament and the Council will adopt swiftly the revised Victims’ Rights Directive proposed in July 2023 by the Commission. This would increase the protection of vulnerable victims such as victims of hate crime and provide for better identification of the specific needs of victims of hate crime, as indicated in the Communication.

2.16.

The EESC also points to the ‘hate pyramid’, which illustrates the levels and development of hate, starting from bias-motivated speech and discrimination and growing to physical violence and even terrorism and war. Hate starts to be planted in a person as early as in their childhood, and if those poisonous seeds are not eradicated, they will grow a poisonous harvest that will grow with time. This highlights the importance of quick intervention in any manifestation of hate, as well as empowering people with the key competences for understanding and identifying even micro-aggressions.

2.17.

The EESC calls for an orchestrated effort to eradicate and prevent hate, by a coordinated and united anti-hate approach embedded firmly in education, culture, media and sport as areas of life from which hate should be prevented and eliminated. On the other hand, they are areas of life that can be used as tools and channels for fighting hate through raising awareness and understanding and thus enabling people of all ages to adopt and promote hate-free attitudes and behaviour in all areas of life. Specific attention should be paid to enhancing awareness and skills of highly influential professionals, such as teachers, sportspeople, CSO leaders, and journalists. In addition, attention should also be given to citizenship education, which too often focuses on knowledge transmission rather than experiential learning where learners internalise democratic and tolerant behaviours. All the commitments in the Communication are welcomed and should be pursued. The EESC also highlights the fact that politicians have a core responsibility for the overall system of the rule of law and fundamental rights and calls on all political leaders and parties to act responsibly, in the framework and the spirit of inclusive democracy.

2.18.

While recognising and communicating the serious human, societal and economic impacts of hate, it is also important to raise awareness about the wide variety of benefits of diversity and equality. The EESC therefore suggests that the Commission and the Member States include this approach in any relevant initiatives and programmes.

2.19.

The EESC also considers it important for the EU to help fight hate through its external relations, including though active diplomacy and truly mutually beneficial partnerships that boost economic, social and environmental progress in the partner countries, that promote equality and solidarity between populations, and that decrease drivers of hate.

3.   Specific comments

3.1.

The work of the High-Level Group on combating hate speech and hate crime should be better operationalised. Efforts to develop training and capacity building for law enforcement, improve hate crime recording and comprehensive data collection, and encourage victims to report hate crime should be subject to reporting and benchmarking to identify progress at national level.

3.2.

Monitoring of online hate should be institutionalised. The EU-funded project European Observatory of Online Hate analysed eight million online messages in the EU and concluded that hate toxicity has risen by 30 % since the start of 2023. This project was supported by the European Commission’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme, but the need to monitor online hate is constant. Thus, the Commission and its agencies, such as FRA, should implement a permanent monitoring programme.

3.3.

The EESC supports the protection of public spaces and the use of the Internal Security Fund, especially to protect places of worship. Jewish communities and civil society organisations have had to invest significant funding in their security measures following anti-Semitic attacks. The EESC urges the Member States to ensure that worship and community spaces are protected.

3.4.

The Commission should renew its efforts and provide suitable support to attract more CSOs and human rights defenders to the Digital Services Act (DSA) trusted flaggers process. The EESC has taken note of the call from 21 CSOs to have the extensive reporting obligations removed and the status granted by the Commission independently of Member States’ Digital Services Coordinators (11).

3.5.

The DSA requires very large online platforms to assess the impact of algorithmic amplification on their systems and take measures to mitigate possible risks of negative effects on democratic processes, civic discourse and electoral processes, as well as public security (12). These efforts should be clearly identified and communicated publicly. The EESC believes that the EU must go further and insist that large online platforms prevent their algorithms from amplifying hate.

3.6.

More resources should be put into identifying and combating ecosystems of hatred online from the CERV programme, Horizon Europe and Erasmus+, allowing existing educational and research capacities to contribute to this objective. The funding should go to institutions and organisations from all Member States and those operating at a pan-European level, in order to understand specific local and national situations with regard to hate.

3.7.

The Commission should reinforce strategic communication efforts with the Radicalisation Awareness Network, as stated in the Communication. At the same time, support for RAN should be increased, and the Commission should help RAN liaise better with the Member States, where its expertise can directly influence policymaking.

3.8.

The EESC welcomes the strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation, which commits its signatories, including all major online platforms, to react quickly to risks in cooperation with civil society, including grassroots initiatives and the authorities. The coordination and cooperation between the Commission and the High Representative to combat disinformation also needs to be stepped up, with due support for independent fact-checkers, who play a significant role in responding to disinformation.

3.9.

The EESC actively cooperates in the follow-up to the Communication, including its active position in the work of the European Citizens’ Panel on Tackling Hatred in Society (13). The EESC believes that fighting hate is a topic where direct participation of citizens is well justified, as a complement to a meaningful dialogue with organised civil society representatives.

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(1)  JOIN(2023) 51 – final.

(2)  Preamble, TEU.

(3)  Article 2 TEU.

(4)  Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee – Safeguarding Democracy Against Disinformation (own-initiative opinion) (OJ C, C/2024/4052, 12.7.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/4052/oj).

(5)  Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on Improving equality in the EU (own-initiative opinion) (OJ C 75, 28.2.2023, p. 56), Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating violence against women and domestic violence (COM(2022) 105 final) (OJ C 443, 22.11.2022, p. 93), Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee – Violence against women as a human rights issue: state of play of measures across the EU (ongoing).

(6)  Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the proposal for a Council Recommendation on the key enabling factors for successful digital education and training (COM(2023) 205 final — 2023/0099 (NLE)), the proposal for a Council Recommendation on improving the provision of digital skills in education and training (COM(2023) 206 final — 2023/0100 (NLE)) and new ways of achieving digital inclusion (exploratory opinion at the request of the Belgian Presidency) (OJ C, C/2024/885, 6.2.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/885/oj).

(7)  This development violates art. 2 TEU.

(8)  Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Measures to improve mental health’ (Exploratory opinion requested by the Spanish Presidency) (OJ C 349, 29.9.2023, p. 100).

(9)  Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council — A more inclusive and protective Europe: extending the list of EU crimes to hate speech and hate crime (COM(2021) 777 final) (OJ C 323, 26.8.2022, p. 83).

(10)  Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council — A more inclusive and protective Europe: extending the list of EU crimes to hate speech and hate crime (COM(2021) 777 final) (OJ C 323, 26.8.2022, p. 83).

(11)  Media Diversity Institute, Media Statement from Trusted Flaggers on the Digital Services Act negotiations, 1.4.2022.

(12)  The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) report on TikTok found that the platform is used to promote white supremacist conspiracy theories, produce weapons manufacturing advice, glorify extremists, terrorists, fascists and dictators, direct targeted harassment against minorities and produce content that denies that violent events like genocides ever happened. (Ciarán O’Connor. 2021. Hatescape: An In-Depth Analysis of Extremism and Hate Speech on TikTok, p. 4).

(13)   European Citizens’ Panel.