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Thank you, President. 

Honourable Members [of the European Parliament],  

Let me begin by thanking the rapporteur, Ms Isabel Wiseler-Lima, the shadow rapporteurs and other Members who have contributed to this annual report on Human Rights and Democracy. 

The human rights situation is worsening across the world. Your report, looking back at the last 12 months, takes note of this clearly.  

We have seen the worst violations of human rights in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Tigray and Iran, to name just the most recent and dramatic examples. 

The universality of human rights are increasingly questioned. Some countries are pushing new, alternative narratives to change agreed international human rights law and to erode the fundamental rights that belong to every human being. This is something which we cannot accept. Human Rights are not a matter of choice, but are the basis of human dignity.

They are also in the DNA of the European Union and lie at the foundation of our relations with the rest of the world. And they are a core priority for [the] Europen Union[‘s] foreign policy.

We will condemn systematically human rights violations and apply sanctions against the worst offenders. The new European Union Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime that we created in 2021, as requested by this House, allows us to go after violations wherever they occur.  

Honourable Members, 

In December 2022, the 24^th EU-NGO Forum gathered more than 230 human rights defenders from over 70 countries to discuss how to stop impunity and build the road to accountability and justice. This will remain one of our key priorities in 2023. 

We are setting up a new Global Observatory on the Fight Against Impunity with a budget of around €20 million for up to 5 years, to gather information and build a knowledge base about genocide, crimes against humanity and other serious human rights violations.  

In 2023, we will support the International Criminal Court (ICC) via our core funding – €7 million for 2021-2027 – and the European Union exceptional assistance measure to the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC Karim Khan – €7.25 million for 18 months –  adopted in June 2022 on Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine. 

Finally, at the multilateral level, we will build on what we achieved in 2022, like in the cases of Belarus, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Myanmar, the rights of the child and freedom of religion and belief (FORB), and we will continue to defend international human rights and humanitarian law, supporting strong resolutions addressing grave human rights situations.  

We will continue using all our bilateral channels to protect and support those that defend human rights and democracy on the ground.  

Since 2015, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Protection Mechanism has supported more than 58,000 Human Rights Defenders and their families in more than 120 countries through €35 million of European Union funding. As an example, a special support has been mobilized for 300 Afghan defenders. Since January 2022, we helped at least 3,630 individuals at risk. This is never enough, we know. To further step up our support, we have recently renewed our commitment to fund our Human Rights Defenders protection mechanism, with €30 million for 2022-2027.  

We also need to make the private sector more involved on businesses, trade and human rights. In 2022, the Commission proposed draft legislation on corporate sustainability due diligence and on banning forced labour products from European Union markets. We hope to adopt these legislations this year. 

Countering racial and other forms of discrimination, defending gender equality and women and girls’ rights is and will stay at the core of our action. 

Other concrete areas for work in 2023 include digital transformation and surveillance technologies, the human rights consequences of climate change and environmental degradation and the right to development.  

Honourable Members, 

In 2023, the international community, and we as European Union, celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We are already at work with the United Nations, partners across the world, as well as civil society and others. 

May this anniversary be used to join our forces and reverse the current global trend. We have to make sure that 2023 is a year of action and results for human rights.  

Thank you for your long-standing and principled support. 

Link to the video (starting from 5:12): https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-235633 

Closing remarks 

Honourable Members [of the European Parliament], 

I would like to thank again the rapporteur [Isabel Wiseler-Lima] and the contributors to the European Parliament’s report for noting the efforts and initiatives of the European Union in the area of Human Rights and Democracy.  

Indeed, we do a lot as the European Union - often more than what we get credit for. But it is also clear that we must continue enhancing and improving our action.  

Recognising that the global human rights, democracy and humanitarian situation is worsening across the world, we must be determined in the defence of their universality. 

As your report stresses, our efforts need to be result-oriented. And our Dialogues with third countries represent one of the most important tools and opportunities to focus on human rights challenges and calls for them to be respected, including with relation to individual cases. These Dialogues are, indeed, not a stand-alone tool.  

The European Union will continue to use all other instruments at our disposal, including sanctions, to reinforce our messages where necessary.

The European Parliament is a crucial ally in our endeavour, including through your parliamentary diplomacy activities. 

Je ne vais, madame la Présidente, pas revenir sur chacun des cas et situations évoqués. Mais simplement pour donner l’exemple du Haut-Karabakh, évoqué à plusieurs reprises, demain il y aura dans cette assemblée un débat dédié au Haut-Karabakh avec une prise de position du haut représentant [pour les affaires étrangères et la politique de sécurité, Josep Borrell]. Donc, je pense que le débat aura clairement lieu. 

Je voulais simplement ajouter qu’effectivement, comme cela a été dit aussi, pour être crédible dans l’ensemble des actions que nous entreprenons à travers le monde, il faut mener aussi des actions à l’intérieur de l’Union européenne. Et c’est ce que nous faisons en utilisant tous les instruments à notre disposition: depuis le rapport sur l’Etat de droit en passant par la conditionnalité, et jusqu’aux infractions que nous introduisons – les procédures en infraction – devant la Cour de Justice [de l’Union européenne]. Je crois qu’effectivement, tout le message qui est orienté vers le reste du monde doit passer aussi par une préoccupation majeure pour les mêmes thèmes à l’intérieur de l’Union européenne. 

Je vous remercie. 

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-235635