Brussels, 17 July 2025
As discussions are going on about the Directive on Victims Rights, intensive pressures are made to introduce access to abortion in EU law through this directive.
The Directive on Victims Rights was voted in the European Parliament on the 25th of March 2024 and is now on trilogues at the Council but remained blocked since. By “trilogues”, the EU law means the negotiation between the three main institutions : the Commission, the Parliament and the Council. Under the last version, it asks access to abortion as a right for all victims of crimes.
The text reads as the following : “Ensuring referral and access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services, including emergency contraception, post-exposure prophylaxis treatment, testing for sexually transmitted infections and access to abortion care, should be part of the targeted and integrated support services for those victims.”
The voted text as amended by the European Parliament also mentions : “access to comprehensive medical care services, including sexual and reproductive healthcare services, especially access to safe and legal abortion care, for victims“.
As a Directive, this text would be legally enforceable in all Member States, after having been transcripted into law by national parliaments. Therefore, all Member States would see their internal legislation impacted by this directive, even the Member States who wants to retain their current legislation on abortion.
Vincenzo Bassi, President of FAFCE, added that “even the European Court of Human Rights does not recognise a right to an abortion, neither does any international court. This is, in effect, merely a manifesto motion for ideological purposes, with no juridical foundation. This serves no woman or child in the European Union.”
Denmark is assuming the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU from 1 July 2025, for the eighth time since its accession to the EU. During a hearing on Tuesday 15 July 2025 in LIBE committee, the Danish ministers spoke about the Directive on Victims Rights and explained that the adoption of this bill is a priority.
