Thirteen years after adopting Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, EU rules needed to be overhauled to better prevent the phenomenon and better protect its victims.

The Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) endorsed the new text with 563 votes in favor, 7 against, and 17 abstentions. The new EU rules will inter alia:

• criminalise the use of services provided by a trafficking victim when the user is aware of the exploitation;
   
• improve the assistance and support to victims of trafficking in human beings, ensuring for example that they have access to shelters and safe houses, and that those with disabilities are provided with support measures; 
   
• enhance coordination between anti-trafficking and asylum authorities, so that victims of trafficking who are also in need of international protection receive appropriate support and protection;
   
• introduce penalties for companies convicted of trafficking, for instance by excluding them from tendering processes and from reimbursement for public aid or subsidies;
   
• ensure prosecutors can choose not to prosecute victims for criminal acts they were coerced into committing, and that victims receive support regardless of whether they cooperate with investigations or not.

Now, it is up to the Council of the European Union to give formal approval to the agreement. Then, the Directive will come into force twenty days after its publication in the EU Official Journal, leaving Member States two years to implement its provisions.

For further information, please read the press release from the European Parliament.