EU-wide protection rules for crime victims

Crime victims who are granted protection in one EU Member State will be able to get similar protection if they move to another, under new European Protection Order rules endorsed by the Civil Liberties and the Women's Rights Committees of the European Parliament. Protection would be available to, for instance, victims of gender violence, harassment, abduction, stalking or attempted murder.

Measures to protect crime victims from aggressors already exist in all EU Member States but at present they cease to apply if the victim moves to another country. When it takes effect, the European Protection Order (EPO) will enable anyone protected under criminal law in one EU state to apply for similar protection if they move to another.

Civil Liberties Committee rapporteur, Carmen Romero López, said:

"The EPO directive is an important step in building a European area of justice, which will protect women who are threatened, by safeguarding their physical, psychological and sexual integrity and their dignity as they move within Europe. The need to protect victims and prevent new crimes must inspire European criminal law.”

The European Parliament is to vote on the final text at the December plenary session. Once formally adopted, Member States will have three years to transpose the new directive into national law.