To ensure that victims of crime (such as rape, harassment, or human trafficking) continue to benefit from protection measures against their offender when they travel or move to another EU Member State, the European Protection Order (EPO) in the area of criminal matters was created. To complement the EPO in criminal matters and to ensure the broadest possible range of protection measures, separate legislation for civil matters was needed (EPO II). The European Parliament today voted on the negotiation mandate on EPO II to start talks with the Commission and Council.

The Group of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) in the European Parliament has always stood firm in defending effective and concrete rights for all victims in Europe, striking the right balance and setting minimum standards for their protection.

Antonyia Parvanova (NMSP, Bulgaria), Parliament rapporteur on the regulation on mutual recognition of protection measures in civil matters, stresses the importance of ensuring rapid and simple recognition and enforcement of protection measures.
"Administrative procedures for victims have to be more straightforward as we need to ensure that they are protected whenever they travel or move to another Member State. Our vote today was guided by one key principle: to make the system work efficiently for victims and to guarantee their protection throughout the Union. We notably propose an automatic transmission system for the protection certificates and the possibility for the protected person to request the certificate online, by fax or any other technical means."

Parvanova specifically addresses the situation of victims of gender-based violence. She comments: "In line with our ongoing negotiations on the Directive on the minimum standards for the protection of victims of crime (for which I am also rapporteur), the Legal Affairs committee and the Women's Rights committee today adopted a report which sheds light on the particular situation and needs of victims of gender-based violence. The continuity of specialist support services to victims of gender-based violence and specialist training for officials likely to deal with cases of violence against women is an important part of the protection."
"We also included provisions strengthening the collection of data by Member States, which would provide an evidence-based assessment of the functioning of the certificate mechanism and would allow for the identification of potential loopholes and room for improvement" adds Parvanova.

In order to better inform protected persons of their rights and the free movement of protection measures, ALDE supports the call for the creation of information and awareness-raising campaigns between EU Member States.