Report assessing the extent to which Member States have taken the necessary measures in order to comply with Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims

Trafficking in human beings is explicitly prohibited under Article 5(3) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. It is also listed in Article 83 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union among those particularly serious crimes with a cross-border dimension. A major step in the EU action to address this phenomenon was the adoption of Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, which replaced the previous EU legal instrument on trafficking in human beings, Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA. The Directive applies to all Member States except for Denmark.

The Directive sets out minimum standards to be applied throughout the European Union in preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting victims and provides for the definition of trafficking in human beings. It is based on the human rights approach and gender perspective, to strengthen the prevention of this crime and the protection of and assistance to the victims thereof.

The Directive concerns: i) criminal measures, investigation and prosecution, ii) assistance, support and protection measures for victims, iii) prevention measures enabling the reduction of demand, raising awareness, and fostering the training of persons likely to come into contact with victims and iv) National Rapporteurs or equivalent mechanisms (NREMs) and Coordination. The Directive also takes particular account of the of best interests of the child and lays down provisions granting assistance, support and protection specifically tailored to children.

This report responds to the requirement for the Commission to report to the European Parliament and the Council assessing the extent to which the Member States have taken the necessary measures in order to comply with the Directive. A separate report assesses the impact of existing national law, establishing as a criminal offence the use of services which are the objects of exploitation of trafficking in human beings, on the prevention of trafficking in human beings.

This report represents the state of play of the transposition of the Directive at the time of drafting the report, based on the information available to the Commission, and as such is not an exhaustive analysis of existing national provisions. The existence of further legislative developments or provisions not notified to the Commission cannot be excluded. Therefore this report does not preclude the Commission from seeking additional information from Member States through bilateral contacts, if need be.