It seems the European Commission is now calling Greece to account, sending the country a reasoned opinion for failing to correctly transpose into national law EU legislation criminalising #hate_speech (#hatespeech) and #hate_crimes (#hatecrimes).
The European Commission decided to send Greece a reasoned opinion for failing to correctly transpose into its national law the EU legislation criminalising hate speech and hate crimes.
The purpose of the Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia through criminal law is to ensure that serious manifestations of racism and xenophobia, such as the public incitement to violence or hatred, are punishable by effective, proportionate and dissuasive criminal penalties across the EU.
The Commission decided to send Greece a reasoned opinion because it had failed to fulfil its obligations regarding the transposition of the Framework Decision into national law. In June 2021, the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Greece, requesting an appropriate level of criminalisation of hate speech. Greece’s responses did not sufficiently address the Commission’s concerns. As a result, the Commission decided to send Greece a reasoned opinion, giving it two months to respond.
