A new European law will soon give victims of violence – including domestic violence – the right to rely on civil protection measures obtained in their home country, even if they have moved to another EU member state.

It complements an existing EU rule that enables anyone protected under criminal law in one EU state to apply for similar protection if they move to another.

‘Protection gap’

At the moment, while victims of violence – usually women – can obtain civil protection measures in any European member state, that protection is not automatically recognised elsewhere in the EU. This means that the victim has to re-apply for an interdict, or its equivalent, each time she moves.

This can leave a bit of a ‘protection gap’, which the European Commission has been working to remove since 2011.

The Regulation on mutual recognition of civil law protection measures

It has therefore developed a Regulation on mutual recognition of civil law protection measures. This is designed to simplify the application process and to ensure that protection granted in one state is maintained when the victim moves or travels to another.

This means that a victim of stalking, harassment and gender-based violence will no longer have to take out additional protection measures against the perpetrator if she wishes to travel elsewhere in the EU.

“An estimated one in five women in Europe suffer some kind of violence at least once in their lives. Sadly, the most common form of physical violence is inflicted by someone close to the woman, usually an intimate partner,” said Vice-President Viviane Reding, EU’s Justice Commissioner.

“Thanks to the European Protection Order, victims of domestic violence can breathe a sigh of relief: they will be able to rely on a restraining order obtained in their home country wherever they are in the Union. The protection will travel with the citizens,” she added.

Package of measures

The Regulation forms part of a package of measures designed to improve victims’ rights across the EU. The package includes:

• The Victims Directive, which sets out minimum rights for crime victims wherever they are in the EU. This is already in the European statute book.
• The European Protection Order Directive, which ensures mutual recognition of criminal law protection measures throughout Europe. This protects victims of offences such as gender violence, harassment, abduction, stalking or attempted murder, and can only be issued if the aggressor is banned by the initial country from places where the protected person resides or visits, or if restrictions are imposed on contact or approaches by the aggressor to the protected person.

What happens now?

There are still a few formalities to take place before the Regulation takes effect.

Back in February, the Council of Ministers reached a political agreement on the Regulation with the European Parliament, and so, while it has still to formally adopt the Regulation, it is expected to do so at the next meeting of Justice Ministers. This will take place on 6th-7th June.

The Regulation will then be published in the EU’s Official Journal (the EU’s Statute Book), and will come into force twenty days after that. However, it will not start to apply to protection orders until 11th January 2015.

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