High Level Group on combating hate speech and hate crime - Main contents

Details

Abbreviation:

Policy Area: Human rights;Justice and Home Affairs

Lead DG: DG Justice and Consumers

Type: Informal

Scope: Limited

Mission: The High Level Group on combating hate speech and hate crime will foster the further exchange and dissemination of good practices between national authorities and concrete discussions on how to fill existing gaps and better prevent and combat hate crime and hate speech. The High Level Group will also be a platform for dedicated discussions on how to tackle specificities of particular forms of intolerance, also in light of the experience of civil society and communities.

Task: Assist the Commission in the preparation of legislative proposals and policy initiatives

Contact: -

Publication in RegExp: 13/05/2016

Creating Act: -

Last updated: 18/02/2023

Additional Information

Activity report: The concept note is illustrating the role and mandate of the Group. The High Level Group shall meet in plenary twice to three times a year in Brussels, with a one day meeting each time. Additional meetings of the sub-group on recording and a data collection coordinated by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, and other sub-groups which may be created, could be held outside or in the margins of plenary meetings. The Commission will also welcome and facilitate the organisation of technical seminars and workshops, which Member States or EU agencies may wish to host.

Concept note for launch_final (rev).pdf (approx. 192 kb)

Activity report: This is the press release marking the launch meeting of the High Level Group on 14 June 2016 with a link to Commissioner Věra Jourová opening speech.

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEX-16-2199_de.htm

Activity report: The Code of Conduct on countering hate speech online is the compass of the work of the sub-group on countering hate speech online.

hate_speech_code_of_conduct_en.pdf (approx. 105 kb)

Q&A code_of_conduct_hate_speech_en.pdf (approx. 330 kb)

Activity report: This is the factsheet "Code of Conduct on countering illegal hate speech online: First results on implementation".

factsheet-code-conduct-8-PRINT.pdf (approx. 1452 kb)

Activity report: The paper "Hate crime training for law enforcement and criminal justice authorities: 10 key guiding principles" is the result of the thematic discussion on hate crime training for law enforcement and judicial authorities held at the second meeting of the High Level Group on 7 December 2016. The purpose of the paper is to provide Member States' authorities and other relevant stakeholders with a compilation of key guiding principles on how to ensure effective and quality hate crime training for law enforcement and criminal justice authorities. The paper is accompanied by an overview of resources and initiatives to support hate crime training programmes in the Member States.

HLG_Conclusions paper hate crime training_final_rev.pdf (approx. 563 kb)

Overview_final_rev.pdf (approx. 458 kb)

Activity report: The factsheet "Code of Conduct on countering illegal hate speech online: One year after" is illustrating findings on the implementation of the Code of Conduct on countering illegal hate speech online.

Code of conduct_Factsheet-en_June 2017.pdf (approx. 2400 kb)

Activity report: The paper "Ensuring justice, protection and support for victims of hate crime and hate speech: 10 key guiding principles" is the result of the thematic discussion on access to justice, protection and support for hate crime victims held at the third meeting of the High Level Group on 31 May-1 June 2017. The purpose of the paper is to provide Member States' authorities and other relevant stakeholders with a compilation of key guiding principles on how to ensure effective access to justice, protection and support for hate crime victims. The paper is accompanied by an overview of relevant resources and initiatives in this area.

HLG_Conclusions paper hate crime victims_final.pdf (approx. 581 kb)

HLG_Hate crime victims_Overview of resources.pdf (approx. 370 kb)

Activity report: The paper "Improving the recording of hate crime by law enforcement authorities - key guiding principles", compiled by the Subgroup on methodologies for recording and collecting data on hate crime was endorsed by the High Level Group at its meeting of 5 December 2017.

Subgroup Paper_ImprovingRecording_final_formatted.pdf (approx. 486 kb)

Activity report: The EU High Level Group on combating racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance, set up in 2016, is renamed High Level Group on combating hate speech and hate crime to reflect its current scope of action, i.e. tackling hate crime and hate speech manifesting in different forms, beyond racist and xenophobic motives as covered by the Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia. The change has taken effect as of 1st January 2022.

Selection procedure: Rules for selection of members are available in the attached document.

JUST HLG racism_ Rules for selection of members _ REV.pdf (approx. 357 kb)

Rules of procedure: Expert groups usually operate in an informal setting without any formal rules of procedure. This is the case for this group. Concerning reimbursement rules, government experts shall receive a daily allowance for each day of the meeting and, where appropriate, an accommodation allowance, on condition that they declare on their honour that they are not receiving a similar allowance or similar allowances from their own administration for the same visit. Given that discussions within the expert group touch upon different areas going beyond criminal justice policies, the Commission will cover participation costs of two participants per Member State, as per Article 7(2) of the annex to the Commission Decision of 5 December 2007 on "Rules on the reimbursement of expenses incurred by people from outside the Commission invited to attend meetings in an expert capacity". This allows Member States appointing the appropriate representative/expert from the service in charge of the specific items on the agenda (e.g. Interior Ministry, Social Affairs Ministry, law enforcement authorities, etc.), who may often need to accompany the representative from the leading national service mainly responsible for the implementation of relevant legislation and policies (i.e. Justice Ministry).

Other: As announced in the conclusions of the first Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights "Tolerance and respect: preventing and combating antisemitic and anti-Muslim hatred in Europe", the European Commission committed to set up a EU High Level Group on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and other forms of intolerance , with a view to bringing a further political impetus for the EU and its Member States to progress on countering hatred and intolerance in Europe. Building on the work done by the Commission’s Member States Expert Group on Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA on combating racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law, which existed for the past 5 years, the High Level Group on combating racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance will foster the further exchange and dissemination of best practices between national authorities and concrete discussions on how to fill existing gaps and better counter hate crime and hate speech. The High Level Group will also be a platform for dedicated discussions on how to tackle effectively the specificities of particular forms of intolerance, also in light of the experience of civil society and communities themselves. The High Level Group will allow bringing together, alongside Member States authorities, key stakeholders including civil society organisations and community representatives, but also relevant EU agencies, and in particular the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), as well as international organisations active in this area, as a means to step up cooperation and improve coordination between relevant actors, maximizing concrete impact on preventing and combating hate crime and hate speech on the ground.

Subgroups

Subgroup on countering hate speech online