On 13 December 2016, Parliament adopted the report on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union in 2015 (2016/2009(INI)). In paragraph 63 of the report, Parliament urges Member States to cooperate with national and international judicial investigations into who was responsible for crimes against humanity committed in EU Member States by totalitarian regimes. It also calls on the Commission to conduct an objective assessment of the situation in the Union with regard to such cooperation and other matters linked to the UN recommendations on democratic remembrance. The Commission's response makes no reference to this call, despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of families in Member States are still affected by the shameful legacy of dictatorships such as the Franco regime

1. Why does the Commission make no mention of this aspect of the report?

2. Does the Commission intend to take action with regard to this specific request?

3. Does the Commission not think that hindering this type of investigation is an insult to the victims of these totalitarian regimes?

RESPOSTA
07-08-2018

Ensuring the respect of human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and fundamental rights is a priority for the Commission. They are the core values, principles and rights on which the European Union is built. In its response of 4 July 2017, the Commission addressed the questions raised by the European Parliament's report on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union in 2015.(1)

Totalitarian regimes across Europe restricted people's freedoms, violated their rights and made millions of citizens victims of their ideology. As stated on the Day of Remembrance for victims of totalitarian regimes ‘we must remember past horrors to give us the knowledge and strength to reject those who seek to revive these ideologies'.(2)

Member States have dealt with, and are continuing to deal with, the sensitive and complex issue of addressing the horrors that have happened in the past(3). Each Member State has its own approach to remember its history and the Commission can facilitate this process by encouraging discussion and sharing of experiences and promoting best practices, in particular under the Europe for Citizens programme. The 80th Anniversary of the beginning of the Spanish Civil War was part of the multi-annual priorities of the programme in 2016. Five Spanish projects were funded, some of them dealing specifically with the topic of the Spanish civil war, such as the project ‘Memories and democracy, The Spanish civil war and the European totalitarian regimes'.(4)

(1) http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?reference=2016/2009(INI)&l=en#tab-0
(2) http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-17-2722_en.htm
(3) Report on the memory of the crimes committed by totalitarian regimes in Europe: COM(2010) 783 final
(4) http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/europe-for-citizens/projects/efc-project-details-page/?nodeRef=workspace://SpacesStore/64507914-5dd6-419e-894e-713410d30e9a