The European Commission has opened a 12-week public consultation to collect feedback for a new EU strategy on victims’ rights, including input from victims of crime, support services, police, courts, civil society organisations and researchers.
The consultation is intended to inform a new strategy that will support the implementation of the EU’s revised Victims’ Rights Directive, which was adopted in June, the Commission informed in a release on Thursday.
An EU directive is a law that sets goals all member states must meet, while leaving national authorities to decide how to implement them.
The Commission said the new strategy would also build on work under its previous victims’ rights strategy for 2020–2025, including the creation of the Victims’ Rights Platform, a forum that brings together organisations working on victims’ rights.
It also referenced the EU-wide “Keep your Eyes Open” campaign as part of its earlier efforts.
Focus includes crime in the digital realm
Crime affects millions of victims each year and they need support and protection from public authorities, Commission executive vice-president Henna Virkkunen said.
Virkkunen added that cybercrimes can operate “on a large-scale across borders” and may affect multiple victims at the same time.
Michael McGrath, the Commissioner for democracy, justice, the rule of law and consumer protection, said the revised Victims’ Rights Directive had strengthened Europe’s rules and that the next step was ensuring those rights were applied in practice across the EU.
