Ahead of the 133rd session of the Committee of Ministers, on 16-17 May 2024, Amnesty International wrote to Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Council of Europe member states and to Permanent Representatives to the Council of Europe, urging them to take action to further the recognition and protection of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment within the Council of Europe.

Reacting to the European Council’s decision to call for a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza, Amnesty International’s Head of the European Institutions Office, Eve Geddie said: 

Ahead of the European Union’s (EU) leaders meeting with the Egyptian president in Cairo (17 March 2024), Amnesty International called for all leaders to ensure that respect for human rights is at the centre of all ties between the EU and Egypt.

The European Commission is currently deliberating whether it will release its planned funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), without which UNRWA could run out of funding leading to closing its operation. In a letter addressed to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard urges the European Commission to ensure these funds are allocated to UNRWA without delay, to avoid exacerbating the suffering of over two million Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, who are currently facing a serious risk of genocide.

Ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council on 19 February, Amnesty International shared a letter with High Representative Josep Borrell and EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs, in relation to the worrying signs of genocide in the occupied Gaza Strip and the impending Israeli ground invasion of Rafah.

Following certain governments’ alarming decisions to suspend funding to the United Nations Work and Relief Agency (UNRWA), Amnesty International wrote to leaders of EU member states, to High Representative Borrell and to European Commissioner for Crisis Management Lenarčič, urging them to ensure that the EU and your governments do not suspend funding to UNRWA and continue publicly supporting UNRWA and its essential mission in view of the risk of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Ahead of the EU-Egypt Association Council today (23 January 2024), European leaders must ensure that respect for human rights is at the core of all ties with Egypt. Amnesty International’s Head of the European Institutions Office and Advocacy Director, Eve Geddie said:  

Ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council on 22 January, Amnesty International wrote to High Representative / Vice President Josep Borrell Fontelles and EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs, to share our analysis and recommendations for their discussion on the situation in the Middle East.

In a joint letter to the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council, the incoming Belgian Presidency of the EU Council, Vice President Vera Jourová and Commissioner Didier Reynders, Amnesty International, CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties), Equinox: Initiative for Racial Justice, EuroMed Rights, European Civic Forum (ECF), and European Network Against Racism express concerns over restrictions on peaceful assembly and expression, in particular against people and organisations expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Ahead of the European Council meeting on 14-15 December, at which EU Heads of State are due to discuss the situation in Gaza and Israel, Amnesty International wrote a letter to President of the European Council Charles Michel, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and EU Heads of State, urging them to urgently call for a ceasefire by all parties in Gaza and Israel.

In an open letter, Amnesty International and 103 other civil society organisations express serious concern at the EU and several European states’ decision to suspend or review their funding to Palestinian and Israeli civil society organisations.

Ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council on 13 November, Amnesty International has written to High Representative Josep Borrell and EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs, urging them to urgently call for a ceasefire to bring an end to the expanding man-made humanitarian and human rights crisis unfolding in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, especially in Gaza.