Ahead of the next meeting of the Council's COPEN working group, the EBU, together with 13 other organizations, releases today a new publication which highlights the shortcomings of the Commission's eEvidence proposal with regard to the respect of fundamental rights. Building on our previous recommendations, this new document gathers four practical examples showcasing what considerable damages the Commission's proposal could have on the work of journalists, the protection of sensitive health data, the freedom to protest in Member States with systemic rule of law issues and the right to a fair trial. The paper also suggests a series of recommendations to address the shortcomings identified.

The signatory organizations very much hope the Council will take this document into consideration during their next meeting, and urge EU lawmakers to maintain a high level of fundamental rights guarantees during their negotiations.