Together against hatred: civil society, citizens and institutions pledge to battle the hate that is spreading in Europe

With hate speech and hate crime rising at a frightening rate, Europeans are joining forces and stepping up action against all forms of hatred to send the message that there is no place for hate in the EU

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is throwing its support behind EU efforts to curb hatred in the EU, which has seen an alarming spike, with groups and individuals increasingly targeted due to their faith, racial or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation or political beliefs.

The EESC, together with citizens and institutions, is committing to do more to fight hatred both online and offline, it said during a high-level debate at its plenary session on 31 May where it adopted the opinion No place for Hate: a Europe united against hatred, denouncing all forms of hatred and welcoming the European Commission Communication on the same topic.

‘We all have a responsibility to combat hatred. To effectively tackle it, we must all work together – politicians, civil society and citizens. Only together and in dialogue can we prevail and fight the increasing hostility in our society, which is a true threat to our democracy’, said EESC president Oliver Röpke, opening the debate at the EESC plenary session.

He pointed to the recent attacks on German MEP Matthias Ecke and the Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico as attacks on democracy, which have exposed deep divisions within European society that have led to violent outcomes.

According to the participants in the debate, which brought together top European Commission and Belgian government officials and representatives of citizens and civil society organisations (including ILGA-Europe and European Network Against Racism (ENAR)), recent figures show an unprecedented rise in hate and violence.

An EU Agency for Fundamental Rights report showed that people of African descent in the EU are particularly exposed to various forms of hatred, including racist harassment and racial discrimination. The same agency’s recent survey showed that LGBTQIA+ people are also facing more violence, harassment and bullying than ever before.

Misogyny is also running high, with female politicians three times more often the victims of harassment than male politicians. An anti-immigrant rhetoric is also on the rise.

An EU-funded project analysed 8 million online messages in the EU, and concluded that hate toxicity has risen by 30% since the start of 2023. Sudden rises in both antisemitic and anti-Muslim incidents have been reported, with antisemitic and anti-Muslim messages more than doubling in the EU online space in late 2023.

Prompted by the surge of hatred across the EU, the European Commission and the High Representative published a Communication on No Place for hate: A Europe united against hatred in January.

It aims to reinforce action across a variety of policy sectors, including the security, digital, education, culture and sport sectors, and to combat hate in all its forms, from harassment and online and offline verbal abuse to threats and actual acts of violence.

‘The Commission Communication on No Place for Hatred is a call for action to stand up against hatred and to speak up for tolerance and respect. The values set out in the EU Treaty clearly outlaw hate crime and hate speech. Unfortunately, we see a rise in both lately’, said Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography Dubravka Šuica in a video message.

To closely involve citizens in this action, the Commission organised the European Citizen Panel on Tackling Hatred in Society, which brought together 150 randomly selected citizens of all ages to look at the root causes of hatred and ways of addressing them. The panel, in which the EESC also took part, produced a set of recommendations. One participant in the citizen panel presented these recommendations during the EESC plenary debate.

Ms Šuica said that the European Citizen Panel delivered outstanding results, stating that ‘democracy thrives on the ability of citizens to contribute and participate in democracy at all levels of governance. This shows that through joint efforts, including the close involvement of civil society, we can find the right solutions’.

‘Whether motivated by race or colour, religion or belief, gender, age, sexual orientation or disability, hate must be combated in all its forms, both online and offline, from discourse, which precedes acts, to individual acts and structural discrimination’, said Marie-Colline Leroy, Belgian State Secretary for Gender Equality, Equal Opportunities and Diversity.

‘The evolution of the debate in society calls for constant vigilance, but also for continued work (both at the European and the national level) towards a society where everyone has their place and feels respected and safe. We must make further progress towards this goal, together with civil society, wherever possible, to build a true union of equality’, Ms Leroy said.

In the opinion, the EESC stressed the need for a more comprehensive partnership with civil society organisations. On the eve of the European elections, the EESC reiterated that politicians have an increased responsibility to avoid language that promotes division and hatred.

It called on the EU to adopt a comprehensive approach to fight hate based on any protected human characteristics, and to use the same approach to fight all types of hate.

‘Combating hate speech is an existential imperative, and all European and national institutions must take coordinated measures to defend liberal democracy. Combating disinformation, foreign interference and covert and malicious external funding of organisations that incite and spread hate speech should be priorities for the EU and the Member States’, said rapporteur of the EESC opinion, Cristian Pîrvulescu.

‘Freedom of expression must be preserved and safeguarded, but never accepted as a justification for hate and discrimination’, said co-rapporteur Milena Angelova.

‘We are calling for EU efforts to identify and combat the “ecosystems” of hatred, both online and offline. Sadly, especially with the forthcoming elections, these ecosystems are already having significant political and electoral impacts in Europe. To combat this, we need wide-ranging information and awareness-raising campaigns that are part of an orchestrated effort to eradicate all forms of hate’, she said.