Incoming EU Justice Commissioner open to making violence against women a 'Euro crime'

Rape is an "abominable crime" and the EU still has work to do in the fight against violence against women and girls, Commissioner-designate for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law Michael McGrath told MEPs during his confirmation hearing on Tuesday. 

"It is important that there is uniformity and consistency across member states in terms of work in that regard," the Irish liberal candidate said, adding that if further action is needed following the implementation of the first-ever law to combat violence against women, he would consider a proposal to add gender-based violence to the list of Euro-crimes. 

Euro-crimes or EU crimes refer to criminal activities that impact on several member states or pose a threat to the financial and economic interests of the Union, such as terrorism, human trafficking or money laundering.

Earlier this year, the EU passed a directive to combat violence against women and domestic violence, which included new penalties for those committing crimes against public figures, journalists and human rights activists and new rules to prohibit forced marriage and female genital mutilation.  

But the new EU rules, which member states must implement by 2027, omitted rape - defined as sex without consent - as such a Euro crime due to the lack of consensus among member states.  

During the hearing, MEP Assita Kanko of the far-right European Conservatives and Reformists (Belgium/ECR) asked McGrath what his plans were to ensure that rape is criminalised equally across the EU.  

The Irish candidate, who already got the first green light from MEPs, said the Commission can encourage member states to introduce the concept of consent when transposing the directive into national law - consent-based definitions of