EPP Group in the European Parliament

Legal & home affairs

A young boy standing with his classmates raises his hand

Committee Culture and Education

Justice carrying her scales, blindfolded

Committee Legal Affairs

Close up of a gavel resting on its stand

Committee Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

The last piece of a puzzle of the European flag lies on top of the completed pieces

Committee Constitutional Affairs

Committee Women’s Rights and Gender Equality

Committee Petitions

Enjoying fundamental rights and respecting the rule of law

We believe in an EU where citizens enjoy their fundamental rights, and the rule of law is fully respected. Our Working Group on Legal and Home Affairs focuses on making this happen and issues such as migration, civil liberties, gender equality, and constitutional and legal matters.

Our Group has made significant progress in various areas, such as securing European borders, fighting terrorism and fraud, and increasing protection for victims. We advocated for the creation of a European Border and Coast Guard (Frontex), electronic checks for citizens crossing Europe’s external borders, and disclosure of airline passenger records. We updated the legal framework on terrorism and ended elaborate terrorist financing.

We have made huge progress towards a common European approach to immigration and asylum policy. Additionally, we prioritise effective protection of intellectual property rights in the digital era to support economic growth that requires a legal framework that ensures effective protection of intellectual property rights online as well as offline. The protection of intellectual property rights in the digital era is also high on our agenda.

Chair

Tomas TOBÉ

Chair - WG Legal and Home Affairs

Our position

Freedom and equality

There can be no step back on the basic principle of freedom of movement within the EU. The EU and its Member States must work together to prevent abuses of this principle. Simplifying and increasing the mobility of the EU's labour force is a priority.

We must also fight for women's rights, including closing the wage gap and combating gender violence. It is important to support the EU's access to the Istanbul Convention on violence against women and to prioritise the rights of children. Member States also must guarantee the rights of national minorities and language groups.

Our humanitarian responsibilities

Europe has a humanitarian responsibility to offer protection to political refugees and those fleeing civil wars. An effective common asylum system is necessary while existing rules are fully implemented.

A common policy on asylum and immigration should prioritize EU citizens' access to labour markets and increase targeted development and humanitarian aid. The EU cannot tolerate social fraud and social dumping. While we respect legal migration into the job market, it is important to tackle abuses and distinguish between refugees and economic migrants. Member States must return illegally-residing economic migrants to their countries of origin, in respect of international and EU law.

Investing in security

Combatting organised crime, corruption, and terrorism is a priority. To prevent tragedies, we must put an end to human trafficking and increase border security, as small countries and countries along Europe’s coastline face very specific challenges.

We want to make Europe's borders more secure. We believe Europe must increase its financial, human and technical resources while strengthening the role and prerogatives of the border protection agency.

Europe also needs a strategy for cybersecurity and against cybercrime, improving cooperation among Member States, police and justice to combat online and offline crime.

The EPP Group emphasises the need to strengthen EU security, the security of its citizens, and increase supervision of secret service activities and illegal spyware use.