Sophie in 't Veld writes a letter to CEPOL

Met dank overgenomen van S.H. (Sophie) in 't Veld i, gepubliceerd op maandag 10 juli 2017.

Dear Mr Bánfi,

According to its mandate[1], CEPOL should promote common respect for, and understanding of, fundamental rights in law enforcement.

By contributing to law enforcement cooperation, CEPOL works towards the creation of an open European police identity and a genuine European law enforcement culture in which all EU citizens are served, protected and reflected.

In this light, CEPOL shall develop and implement common curricula for law enforcement training on specific subjects with a Union dimension.

Equality and non-discrimination are at the core of the Union’s common values, enshrined in Article 2 TEU and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Nevertheless, here is a serious lack of reporting of hate crime against LGBTI persons throughout the EU. The survey of FRA[2] conducted in 2012 stated: 

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    26% of LGBT people who answered the survey had been attacked or threatened with violence in the last five years.
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    66% of respondents across all EU Member States were scared of holding hands in public with a same-sex partner.
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    For gay and bisexual men respondents the figure was about 75%.

LGBTI-phobic crimes are widespread in the EU but at the same time heavily underreported. To improve mutual trust and confidence between LGBTI persons and law enforcement authorities:

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    How will CEPOL contribute to the development of relevant training activities on LGBTI hate crime reporting, together with EU agency FRA and relevant stakeholders, like ILGA, the European Gay Police Association (EGPA) and Roze in Blauw by the end of this year?
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    Could CEPOL develop and implement a common curricula for law enforcement training to share best practices and knowledge to promote and encourage diversity within the police and improve the visibility of LGBTI law enforcement officials, together with EU agency FRA and relevant stakeholders, like ILGA, the European Gay Police Association (EGPA) and Roze in Blauw by the end of this year?

Thank you kindly for your response.

Kind regards,

Sophie in ‘t Veld

Member of the European Parliament (ALDE/ D66)

Cc: Michael O'Flaherty, Director of the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union (FRA)

[1] REGULATION (EU) 2015/2219 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 25 November 2015 on the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) and replacing and repealing Council Decision 2005/681/JHA

[2] [ii] http://fra.europa.eu/en/survey/2012/eu-lgbt-survey

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