EU-wide protection from stalkers

Victims of stalking, harassment or abduction who are granted protection in one EU Member State could get fully equivalent protection if they move to another under new rules approved by the European Parliament's Legal Affairs and Women's Rights committees.

Under the new rules, any victim of gender violence, abduction or aggression, who has been granted protection in one EU Member State, would just need to fill in a standard and multilingual certificate to have his or her right to protection fully enforced throughout the EU.

The proposed regulation on civil matters complements the European Protection Order Directive on criminal cases. Together, the two instruments would cover the broadest possible range of protection measures issued in the Member States. A typical example of such a measure would be an order requiring a stalker to stay away from places frequented by the victim and refrain from contacting her.