Europe is about values more than it is about geography

Our Fundamental Rights are just that. Fundamental. Without them there can be no Union. No great European project. They are what underpin everything

There is not one right that is above another. We protect them all. But perhaps the one that is invoked most often is precisely the right of all of us to express ourselves freely. The right to speak, to write, to shout. The right to publish and the right to disagree.

And too often we witness the right to disagree used as an excuse by Governments to go after journalists, critics, civil society. Increasingly this is happening within our borders.

We need to call it out.

The last Eurobarometer showed that EU citizens consider democracy, human rights, rule of law, as the greatest benefits of the EU.

The European Union is a strong economic bloc but it is more than that. It is a shared promise that our values and way of life will be protected. It is a guarantee that citizens were promised when countries joined the bloc.

There is a disconnection between what citizens expect from our EU and the tools that EU institutions have to meet those expectations. This is particularly the case with Institutions’ role in addressing deficiencies in the rule of law and democracy.

When you look at the freedom of the media for example, there EUwide rules to protect journalists are still insufficient. When you look our democracy protection tool-box it is clear that there are missing elements.

At the moment, in the European Parliament I have been given the responsibility with my Socialist colleague Tiemo Wolken in drafting our position on anti-SLAPP measures in the EU.

Strategic lawsuits against public participation or SLAPPs have only one goal in mind: to silence. To silence journalists and activists from reporting the truth which too often is rooted in criminal behaviour.

To many times, we’ve seen criminals try to abuse of our judicial processes to try to buy time, muddy the waters or mask their intentions behind defamation lawsuits.

Let us be clear, this is about preventing crooks from using our systems to further their criminal activity.

This is about defending our democratic principles.

This is about protecting journalists and all those who aspire to become journalists. It is about ensuring that what was allowed to happen to Daphne Caruana Galizia is never repeated.

The stakes are high. We’ve seen so many journalists and media houses targeted that we understand how heavily the responsibility weighs on our shoulders.

We will call for binding legislation that safeguards against this threat to our fundamental rights.

The defence of Freedom of expression goes beyond our borders. While our mandate stops there, our values are a beacon of hope that spreads across the globe.

There are few times when I have been prouder to be a Member of the European Parliament than when we awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to jailed Saudi dissident and blogger Raif Badawi – who has just marked 9 years in a Saudi Arabian jail.

Raif Badawi’s crime is alien to us in Europe. His punishment shocked us. As MEPs we do what we can to encourage everyone to speak their mind, even if this means that this exposes us to criticism - however unfair it may be. The EU even funds organisations who argue for its demise. Europe is more than a loose association of Member States. It is our belief in freedom of expression and our other fundamental rights that distinguishes us.

This is not to say we are perfect of course. Far from it. In countries outside the EU, and sadly increasingly within it, people are still meeting in underground rooms to discuss ideas that a State has banned, print clandestine pamphlets or try to publish an online blog.

We are in the middle of a debate on the future of Europe. Looking at the future of the EU, does not mean being self-centred. On the contrary, we need a strong EU on the global stage, defending our strategic interests, and our values.

As we have seen with the deterioration of the situation in Belarus, we are facing threats that can only be properly met by Europe acting together.

Europe responded and must continue to stand up. For Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega, for Belarus, for every person who must feel safe flying in our planes, for every dissident who looks to Europe as a beacon of freedom. For us all.

Fundamental rights are intrinsically linked to European values. They can never be uncoupled. Europe is about values more than it is about geography.

“There are few times when I have been prouder to be a Member of the European Parliament than when we awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to jailed Saudi dissident and blogger Raif Badawi – who has just marked 9 years in a Saudi Arabian jail.”