Fact-finding visit to Spain 26-28 May 2025 on labour rights of police officers in the EU

Petition No. 1407/2023, submitted by David Gutierrez Prieto on behalf of the Confederacion Espanola de Policia (CEP), led the PETI Committee to organise a fact-finding visit to Spain, in the towns of Algeciras and Barbate. The petition raises concerns about the fundamental and labour rights of police officers in Spain and in the EU and calls for police work to be recognised as a risk profession across Member States. CEP created the Spanish Public Security Forum, bringing together union representatives and associations from all Spanish police forces (state, regional, municipal), along with judges, prosecutors, and political representatives, to find solutions to rising violence against officers. CEP also contacted European counterparts experiencing similar attacks in their countries and began collecting statistical data to demonstrate the cross-border nature of these crimes. The petitioner urges the European Parliament to debate and adopt EU-wide legislation and enhance and harmonise the legal protection of police officers. Specifically, they call for including assaults on police officers in the list of "Eurocrimes" with a common definition and minimum penalties across the EU.