No place for hate: A Europe united against hatred

The legal and policy framework in the EU

The European Union is founded on values such as respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights. All forms of hatred and intolerance are incompatible with these fundamental rights and values.

The Commission is committed to ensure there is no place for hate in the EU. For this purpose, it has developed a comprehensive legal and policy toolbox to respond effectively to hate offences, jointly with Member States, international organisations, EU agencies and civil society.

In 2024, the Commission organised a European Citizens Panel on tackling hatred in society, during which 150 randomly selected citizens agreed on 21 recommendations to the Commission and other EU institutions and national authorities.

What does the EU law say?

The 2008 Framework Decision on combating certain forms of expressions of racism and xenophobia requires the criminalisation of public incitement to violence or hatred based on race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin. The European Commission, as Guardian of the Treaties, monitors the correct implementation of the Framework Decision, through dialogue and when needed infringements proceedings.

The High Level Group on combating hate speech and hate crime

The High Level Group is established since 2016 with the following mandate:

to foster in-depth expert discussions on horizontal issues common to the fight against hate speech and hate crime on all grounds, seeking to develop practical guidance, standards and tools and to build capacity to improve responses at the national and local level;
to facilitate the exchange and dissemination of good practices undertaken at local, national or international level;
to include both international organisations and civil society perspectives and foster dedicated thematic discussions on specific forms of hatred and ways to channel effective responses on the ground.

The High Level Group has actively promoted the cooperation between public authorities and civil society organisations on the ground; it operates in synergy with the EU Strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life (2021-2030), the work on combating racism, promoting LGBTIQ equality, countering anti-Muslim hatred or anti-gypsyism.

Work streams and resources

The High Level Group is organised around 5 work streams and 2 networks:

Workstream 1

Hate crime recording, reporting and data collection

with support from Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA)

Workstream 2

Hate crime training and capacity building for national law enforcement

Workstream 3

Hate crime victims’ support

with support from the Organisation on Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)

Workstream 4

Countering illegal hate speech online

Workstream 5

Prevention and public awareness-raising measures by public authorities

with support from Council of Europe

Network on law enforcement contact points specialised on hate speech and hate crime

with support from Facing Facts and Europol

Terms of reference for the network

Network of prosecutors specialised in hate crime and criminalised hate speech

Terms of reference for the network

Funding opportunities

The European Commission provides financial support to national authorities and civil society organisations working on hate speech and hate crime, through the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme. To receive information about the upcoming calls, please visit the CERV webpage.