150 European citizens addressed 21 recommendations to the European Commission and national authorities aimed at combatting hatred in all its forms and fostering mutual respect during the final session of the European Citizens' Panel on Tackling Hatred in Society, which took place from 17 to 19 May in Brussels.
All forms of hatred and intolerance are incompatible with the values of human dignity, freedom, democracy the rule of law and respect of human rights, enshrined in the Treaty on European Union. Recent months and years have seen a marked increase in hate speech and hate crime throughout the EU, both online and offline. On 6 December 2023, the European Commission and the High Representative adopted a Joint Communication on 'No place for hate: a Europe united against hatred'. which prompts increased efforts to fight hatred, by reinforcing action across a variety of policies, including security, digital, education, culture and sport.
The Communication in particular calls for the creation of a pan-European space of dialogue, bringing together citizens from across the EU to discuss ways to move from hatred and division to the shared enjoyment of our European values of equality, respect for human rights and dignity. Through the European Citizens' Panel on Tackling Hatred in Society, the Commission has provided an immediate response to this call.
Since April 2024, citizens have gathered to discuss the root causes and drivers of hatred, and the ways to address them, both in person and online.
The input gathered from both the Panel and the Citizens' Engagement Platform will be considered by the College of Commissioners and will support the European Commission's future work on tackling hate speech and hate crime. A Feedback Event will be held at a later date, where Commission policymakers report to the Panel on how their recommendations have been taken into account.
The final recommendations encourage the Commission to focus in particular on:
- Increasing awareness about hatred and existing measures and remedies to counter it with a public campaign
- Creating an EU-wide platform combining information, resources, measures and support systems regarding hatred
- EU safe surfing card
- Training for tolerance (T4T)
- Reinforce the social and emotional skills of children and youth to prevent hate
- Education for every generation for every nation on non-violent communication
- Ads aid against hate
- Reliability, facts and transparency: verifying and clarifying the financing of information
- Europe meets you: participative media for citizens
- Addressing anonymity online to tackle hatred
- One Europe, one definition: criminalising hate speech
- AI Moderation: protecting social media from hate speech
- Burst the bubble: promoting diverse perspectives on social media
- Helping to return to the meaning of life
- Establishing an independent trust committee
- Looking for the people: tackling social inequality to combat hatred in the EU
- National office for combating hate in Member States
- European effective-response protocol for hate crime notifications
- Spreading a culture of debate in schools inspired by citizens' panels
- Creating European Citizens' Panels for young people (ages 16-25) for tackling hatred
- Developing voluntary civic services in local communities for adults
Background
In support of President Ursula von der Leyen's priority to build a European Democracy Fit for the Future, the European Citizens' Panels and online citizens' engagement tools have been embedded as a feature of democratic life in the EU, as one of the key outcomes of the Conference on the Future of Europe. These panels give citizens a voice in EU policymaking.
Hate-motivated crime and speech are illegal under EU law, the 2008 Framework Decision on combating certain forms of expression of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law. The Commission has in place a comprehensive policy toolbox to respond to hate speech and hate crime. Moreover, the European Commission has adopted dedicated EU strategies such as the EU strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life, EU Roma strategic framework on equality, inclusion and participation as well as an EU action plan against racism.
Participants in European Citizens' Panels are recruited using tools to generate valid mobile telephone numbers at random. To ensure that Panels reflect Europe's socio-demographic composition, the process ensures that recruitment is representative of EU diversity. A quota system ensures a gender-balanced Panel and specifies that young people aged 16-25 must represent a third of the panel. Other socio-demographic characteristics relate to education level, geographic location, and occupation.
Citizens work together in small groups of 10-15 people and in plenaries. A facilitation team provides support, alongside a committee of experts who provide additional input. Based on the discussions, citizens make recommendations for the European Commission to consider when defining policies and initiatives. The Citizens' Engagement Platform is a key part of a new ecosystem of citizen engagement, delivering upon a commitment of the follow-up communication to the Conference on the Future of Europe.
