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Justice and fundamental rights

What the EU does

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The EU works to protect democracy, freedom, equality, and the rule of law across its Member States. These values are guaranteed by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which upholds dignity, justice and equal treatment for everyone in the EU. 

The EU makes sure that these rights are respected by monitoring how Member States apply EU laws and by taking action when democratic principles are at risk. 

For citizens, this means the protection of rights linked to EU citizenship like the rights to move and live freely in the EU, smooth recognition of court decisions across borders, and strong privacy rules like data protection (GDPR). The EU monitors and aims to improve the prevention of and fight against corruption across Member States. The EU also defends freedom of expression and promotes equality through anti-discrimination policies.

The EU is committed to fighting all forms of discrimination, whether based on sex, race, ethnicity, language, religion, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or other factors. The EU also promotes and protects rights of children.  For these purposes, the Commission sets up dedicated strategies and action plans.

Civil society organisations and human rights defenders are key partners in safeguarding these values. The EU supports their work to keep democracy, justice and rights strong across the EU.

Key figures

89%
of citizens think it is important that all EU countries respect the EU core values
86%
of citizens think it is important that media and civil society operate freely across the EU
72%
of citizens consider that the EU plays an important role in upholding the rule of law in their country

Areas of action

Criminal justice

Learn how the EU strengthens criminal justice, fosters cross-border cooperation and ensures fair trials

Civil justice

Measures to help citizens and businesses in cross-border cases

Civic space

Protection and support to civil society and human rights defenders

Key achievements

  • Anyone who is a national of an EU country is also an EU citizen. This brings wide rights and opportunities, from living and working anywhere in the EU to taking part in its democratic process.
  • The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) gives people strong control over their personal data, making it one of the world's strongest privacy laws.
  • The EU safeguards democracy, promotes free and fair elections, and protects electoral rights of EU citizens, including with the European democracy action plan and Defence of Democracy Package.
  • All EU Member States are required to respect fundamental rights like freedom of expression, equality and non-discrimination, as well as privacy. The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights guarantees these rights for everyone living in the EU.
  • The EU promotes independent courts and fair trials – vital for citizens andbusinesses to operate with legal certainty.
  • It also ensures access to justice in cross-border civil and commercial cases, including family law, making procedures simpler, cheaper and more predictable.  
  • The EU company law provides a comprehensive and digitalised legal framework for 20 million companies and 2 million partnerships in the EU. This helps enhance the competitiveness of EU businesses and ensure legal certainty. The EU rules also protect the rights of shareholders and require large companies to tackle adverse impacts on human rights and the environment in their value chains.
  • To combat crime more effectively, the EU has harmonised the rules on the definition and penalties of some criminal offences and helped countries work together by recognising each other’s judicial decisions – from gathering evidence to confiscating illicit assets.
  • The EU also works to improve detention conditions. The Commission has put forward a recommendation on procedural rights of suspects and accused in pre-trial detention and on material detention conditions.
  • Moreover, the EU protects the rights of victims of crime through laws and strategies such as the EU strategy on victims’ rights.
  • Judicial authorities cooperate through Eurojust to fight serious cross-border crime. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) investigates and prosecutes crimes that harm the EU budget, such as fraud or corruption.
  • Thanks to a strong legal framework whistleblower protection ensures that those who report breaches of EU law are safeguarded. 

In focus

A woman typing a message on her smartphone. Chatting, communication, conversation, and virtual relationship concept
Revised Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online is integrated into the Digital Services Act

The revised ‘Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online +' has been integrated into the framework of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which encourages voluntary codes of conduct to tackle risks online.

The Code of conduct+ will strengthen the way online platforms deal with content that EU and national laws define as illegal hate speech. The integrated Code of conduct will facilitate compliance with and the effective enforcement of the DSA when it comes to risks of dissemination of illegal content on their services.

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