Europe: choose care over surveillance

Petition

Responding to the call of the #ProtectNotSurveil coalition, we call on Members of the European Parliament to reject in its entirety the proposed reform of the Europol Regulation, which will be voted on in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on Tuesday 20th May. 

This proposal:

• Unlawfully expands Europol’s powers beyond its mandate and oversteps Member State competences;
  
  
• Is unsafe, as it would massively expand data collection of anyone suspected to be a smuggler, including biometrics -  as denounced by the European Data Protection Supervisor. It would also enable unlawful data sharing with authoritarian regimes, and even encourage spyware against human rights defenders.
  
  
• Is unsubstantiated, having been put forward without a proper impact assessment, in violation of the EU’s own Better Regulation Guidelines.

We urge you to vote against this proposal. The reform poses a serious threat to fundamental rights — including the right to privacy, non-discrimination, and due process.

Soon, LIBE Members will also be called to vote on the Facilitation Directive, another central element of the EU’s migration and asylum policy. This too risks entrenching the criminalisation of migration and solidarity.

We therefore also call on the European Institutions to amend the EU Facilitation Directive to:

• Clearly define smuggling as a for-profit activity;
  
  
• Include a strong humanitarian exemption that protects people on the move and those who support them — migrants, refugees, families, and human rights defenders — from being criminalised simply for offering help.