Language
European Parliament
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What is said in the sittings, update by update, the latest first. Each update opens the video at the second it was said.
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The Chair presents the first human‑rights‑focused EP mission to Egypt and its format, followed by detailed NGO testimonies depicting systemic arbitrary detention, closed civic space, repression of minorities and LGBTQ+ people, migration abuses and severe socio‑economic stress, and questioning the Commission’s positive MFA conditionality assessments.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
MEPs press for coherence, resources, conditionality and defence of the ICC and ECHR in two Q&A rounds, raising concerns about double standards, migration‑driven compromises and illiberal pressure, while Erman responds on universality, EU accession to the ECHR, support to international courts and the need for flexible tactics, before the Chair closes by stressing a reinforced ‘Team Europe’ approach.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The Chair launches the item with EEAS Director‑General Erman, situating the 2025 annual report and the forthcoming 2028–2034 Action Plan, after which Erman outlines global human‑rights deterioration, EU responses through multilateralism and support to defenders, and key priorities such as conflict‑related abuses, digital technologies, gender backlash and shrinking civic space.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
Civil‑society advocates urge the EU to operationalise EPCA human‑rights clauses through benchmarks, case‑based advocacy and systematic consultation, followed by a political exchange among MEPs over how far to condition strategic cooperation on democratic standards, media freedom and LGBTQ+ rights, with the Chair affirming the universality of human rights.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The Chair and first speakers frame the human rights situation in Kazakhstan within the EPCA framework, combining the EP delegation’s political reading, the EU Ambassador’s account of reforms and dialogue, and civil‑society testimony on how legal and administrative tools restrict media, activists and public participation.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
Khidji proposes concrete legal and policy reforms and stresses collaborative pressure using GSP+, while EEAS and DG TRADE outline existing tools, Pakistan’s upcoming GSP+ reapplication and future conditionality, before the chair and the Pakistani ambassador close the debate and transition to the joint DEVE meeting.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
MEPs press the EEAS and expert witness on using GSP+ leverage, concrete benchmarks on blasphemy, forced conversions, women’s and minority rights, counter-terrorism and narcotics cooperation, and the impact of possible GSP+ suspension, while raising emblematic cases, political prisoners and human rights defenders.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The chair and EEAS frame the Pakistan item within EU–Pakistan dialogue, GSP+ conditionality and the Strategic Engagement Plan, with an external expert detailing technology-driven repression, media and blasphemy abuses, followed by EEAS assessment of limited progress and persistent structural violations.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
HRDN representatives and MEPs debate the shift from a rights-based to interest-driven EU external policy, risks linked to Global Gateway, the future EU Human Rights Action Plan, funding under the MFF and Global Europe, digital and civic space, and the EU’s credibility and alliances in defending the ICC and global human rights.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
Chair Satouri reopens the DROI subcommittee, adopts the agenda and minutes, explains the postponement of the Afghanistan item, and frames the overall political and human rights context for the sitting.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
After closing the Lebanon point, the Chair opens the item on transnational repression, with Parliament and civil society defining the phenomenon and EU policy priorities, while the Commission, EEAS, Council and Interpol detail existing tools, internal‑security and sanctions mechanisms, and debates on improving safeguards and accountability.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The Chair opens item 10 on Lebanon with political framing, followed by institutional briefings on casualties, displacement, IHL violations and accountability needs, and on how the EU’s political, security and humanitarian tools support reforms, UNIFIL’s transition, sovereignty and human rights commitments.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The Chair opens item 9 on surrogacy under the violence against women mandate, the UN Special Rapporteur presents her human-rights and market‑based analysis of surrogacy, and MEPs question her on regulatory models, links to trafficking, EU versus national competences and children’s rights, followed by detailed replies on data gaps, abusive practices and the primacy of the child’s best interests.
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The Chair, US delegation chair and Commission outline the gravity of the US strategy to undermine the ICC, expected sanctions and pressure tools, and possible EU countermeasures to protect the Court, EU jurisdiction and financial infrastructure.
In this chapter
Introduction of the agenda item on the 2025 coup in Guinea‑Bissau, with delegation input on repression, shrinking civic space and calls for international action, and reflections on how prior constitutional erosion led to the democratic breakdown.
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
Introduction of the post‑coup situation in Guinea‑Bissau, with local stakeholders detailing democratic erosion and civic‑space repression, the EEAS presenting the EU’s calibrated engagement and project support, and MEPs debating the adequacy of the EU response, potential sanctions, support to civil society and next parliamentary steps.
In this chapter
Presentation of the draft report on AI and human rights in EU external action, followed by political groups, Commission and EEAS detailing priorities on fundamental rights, accountability, open‑source, international AI governance and links with UN processes and a potential treaty on lethal autonomous weapons.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
Opening of the agenda item on AI and human rights, presentation of the report’s mandate and scope, followed by political groups, Commission and EEAS setting out priorities and the EU’s external AI governance approach, with the rapporteur reacting and inviting amendments and concrete cases.
In this chapter
Final interventions in the SEDE–DROI workshop cover operational, legal and ethical questions on military AI, including ‘meaningful human control’, accountability and restraint, and the Commission/EEAS explanation of why military uses are outside the AI Act and how the EU promotes a human‑rights‑based multilateral approach before formal closure.
In this chapter
MEPs question experts on how AI-enabled warfare affects thresholds for the use of force, compliance with humanitarian law and accountability, with detailed exchanges on the AI Act’s military exclusion, EDF funding, US tech sector roles, and Israel’s reported use of AI-assisted targeting in Gaza, highlighting regulatory gaps, oversight needs and private‑sector responsibilities.
In this chapter
Chairs open the joint DROI–SEDE workshop, adopt the agenda and politically frame the focus on human control over AI-enabled weapon systems, followed by expert scene‑setting on legal, human rights and operational implications across the lifecycle of military AI and proposals for EU‑level regulation and policy.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The EEAS explains regional containment efforts, adapted engagement with Sahel juntas and support mechanisms for civil society and information integrity, clarifies why the document is a ‘renewed approach’ rather than a new strategy, outlines reasons for medium‑ to long‑term hope, and the Chair closes the meeting with next‑session information.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
Human Rights Watch details accountability options after ICC and ECOWAS withdrawals, while Geneva Call highlights shifting power balances, argues for early dialogue with de facto armed authorities, and describes operational constraints, civil society access challenges and critical EU funding gaps for IHL engagement with non‑state actors.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
MEPs from different political groups question how the EU can remain engaged without complicity in abuses, move beyond a security‑migration lens, protect civic space and minorities, respond to ICC withdrawals, and clarify the status, results and realism of the ‘new’ Sahel approach.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The EEAS outlines human rights and civic space deterioration across Sahel countries and explains the rationale, priorities and implementation focus of the EU’s renewed Sahel approach, stressing human security, dialogue on governance and IHL, and stronger engagement with civil society and local peace actors.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
Human Rights Watch presents extensive abuses by state and non‑state actors in the central Sahel, shrinking civic space and impunity, and urges the EU to condition security cooperation, prioritise justice mechanisms, targeted sanctions and multilateral initiatives to protect civilians and civic actors.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The Chair opens the agenda item on Sahel human rights and security, then Geneva Call details the territorial control of armed groups, civilian impact, and argues for placing IHL, human rights, flexible funding and prevention at the core of the EU’s renewed Sahel approach.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
The Chair commits to making this hearing an annual exercise feeding into EU reports and initiatives, reiterates that killings of human rights defenders must not go unpunished, and formally closes the meeting with procedural information on the next session.
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
MEPs challenge the coherence between EU human rights rhetoric and migration policy, probe causes of high risks in the Americas, digital and AI‑enabled repression, and business involvement, to which the Commission, Front Line Defenders and the EEAS respond with data on emergency protection, digital threats, Colombia’s specific situation, corporate due diligence and the use of EU protection and diplomatic tools.
In this chapter
Subcommittee on Human Rights Ordinary meeting
Front Line Defenders presents its global data, methodology and regional hotspots for killings of human rights defenders, highlighting thematic risk profiles, gender dimensions, perpetrators and impunity, and the EEAS outlines existing EU instruments and priorities for prevention, protection, multilateral engagement and accountability, including use of guidelines and diplomatic pressure.
In this chapter
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