Irish Justice Commissioner-designate Michael McGrath has pledged to strengthen the protection of women and girls from gender-based violence across the EU – and is open to further common legislation to criminalise it.
Rape is an “abominable crime” and the EU still has work to do in the fight against violence against women and girls, Commissioner-designate for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law Michael McGrath told MEPs during his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.
“It is important that there is uniformity and consistency across member states in terms of work in that regard,” the Irish liberal candidate said, adding that if further action is needed following the implementation of the first-ever law to combat violence against women, he would consider a proposal to add gender-based violence to the list of Euro-crimes.
Euro-crimes or EU crimes refer to criminal activities that impact on several member states or pose a threat to the financial and economic interests of the Union, such as terrorism, human trafficking or money laundering.
Earlier this year, the EU passed a directive to combat violence against women and domestic violence, which included new penalties for those committing crimes against public figures, journalists and human rights activists and new rules to prohibit forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
But the new EU rules, which member states must implement by 2027, omitted rape – defined as sex without consent – as such a Euro crime due to the lack of consensus among member states.
During the hearing, MEP Assita Kanko of the hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists group (Belgium/ECR) asked McGrath what his plans were to ensure that rape is criminalised equally across the EU.
The Irish candidate, who already got the first green light from MEPs, said the Commission can encourage member states to introduce the concept of consent when transposing the directive into national law – consent-based definitions of rape currently exist in countries like Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Spain and Sweden.
The EU Commission first proposed the directive on 8 March 2022 to unify rules across the bloc criminalising a range of offences, including cyber violence, female genital mutilation and rape. The latter quickly led to a clash between the European Parliament and the Council.
While MEPs agreed on the need and possibility of including the criminalisation of non-consensual sex in the directive, EU capitals were divided over a Council legal opinion arguing that this was outside the bloc’s legal competence.
Despite months of intense negotiations, the Council lacked the majority required for the proposal – and on the basis that a law was better than none, the Parliament eventually accepted.
“As we march forward, let us remember this moment as a first historic step in strengthening women’s rights and illuminating the path towards a future where every woman can live free from fear and oppression,” one of the leading MEPs on the file, Evin Incir (Sweden/S&D) said after the Parliament approved the new rules.
Parliament and Council agreed that the Commission should report every five years on the situation of women and girls across the EU and the need to review the Directive.
Two in ten women in the EU have experienced physical and/or sexual violence at the hands of a partner or friend. Gender-based violence is also linked to an estimated annual societal cost of €290 million at EU level.
