On Tuesday, November 14, the EU member states and the European Parliament met to discuss the directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence, which aims to ban forced marriages, female genital mutilation, sexual harassment and forced sterilization. While there is a broad consensus on this draft law, presented by the Commission on March 8, 2022, there is one point on which opposition is focused: whether or not the EU will adopt a common definition of rape, which would lead to a common set of penalties at the European level.

In the opinion of the European Parliament, which adopted its position in July, it is imperative that this should be the case and that the European definition of rape should be based, as proposed by the Commission, on the notion of consent: It is sufficient for the victim "not to have consented to the sexual act" for the "crime of rape" to be established, say the two institutions. Article 5 of the Commission's draft law on rape, which the European Parliament has adopted in its entirety, states that "Only the latter approach achieves the full protection of the sexual integrity of victims."

"Only yes means yes," said Swedish MEP Evin Incir (Socialists and Democrats). The MEPs also indicated that they could not be satisfied with legislation that ignored the issue of rape, which, according to an INSEE report published in December 2021, affects more than 100,000 European women every year. "The whole European Union [EU] should take the same stance on the matter. Sex without consent is rape. There is no space for accepting additional requirements other than lack of consent," declared Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli on October 9.

The member states decided in June to exclude Article 5 of the Commission's directive from the negotiations. Some of them, most notably France but also Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, do not want to hear about a European definition of rape. Germany is not enthusiastic either. Conversely, Greece, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Croatia, Sweden, Ireland, Spain and Portugal are in favor, but at this stage, that's not enough.

Within the EU, each country has its own definition of this crime. In Belgium, the law includes the concept of consent as the main defining factor of the crime, as in 15 other member states. Elsewhere, the definition of rape is based first and foremost on the use of force to commit it. In France, rape is defined as a sexual act committed under threat, duress, surprise or violence.

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