European order

The European Parliament has given the green light to a European Protection Order focused on victims of gender violence, which will cover the entire Union. The aim is to offer protection for abused women in every single one of the 27 member states. According to the legislation, which stems from an initiative launched by Spain, a restraining order or an order of any other type passed by a Spanish judge or a court in another European country will be valid and will cover the victim during trips or changes of residence that fall within European territory.

For now, the European Parliament orders do not have immediate legislative operational capacity, but regulations of this type deserve to be welcomed by governments. But there is no guarantee that this will happen. Germany and the United Kingdom have already put a number of obstacles in the way of the initiative, sparking doubts over whether or not it will eventually be adopted by the justice and home affairs ministers of The Council of the European Union.

These countries pose two types of questions in their opposition to a European Protection Order against gender violence: technical questions and others relating to sovereignty. In terms of the latter, it is regrettable that some European countries continue to fall back on these arguments when we are talking about protecting the victims of the offense, whether they are crimes of domestic violence crimes or of terrorism. The technicalities are, however, easier to deal with. A European Protection Order that is valid in the 27 countries requires, at least, an approximation or equivalence of the legislation that should be applied.

Unlike the Order passed on the handing over of terrorists, which was also approved after a Spanish initiative in 2001, the Order dealing with abused women does not refer to procedural aspects, such as speeding up the extradition process. Instead, it demands the application of a series of rules that are not exactly the same in all countries. In Germany, measures to protect women fall under civil law, while in Spain they come under the Penal Code. The communication and coordination problems that could stem from obeying judicial orders in other countries could also be a major issue.

But the technical difficulties and communication problems cannot be an insurmountable obstacle to draw up protection measures for abused women, which are considered necessary, unless of course these excuses are simply an alibi to hide a lack of political will.