Protect peaceful protest. Stop riot violence.

Addressed to: the Members of the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the governments and parliaments of the Member States of the European Union and the European Economic Area.

Why we are petitioning

The freedom of peaceful assembly is a cornerstone of European democracy. It is protected by Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, by Article 12 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and by the constitutions of our countries. People must be free to gather, march and voice their views — including views that others find uncomfortable.

In recent years, cities across Europe have seen riots in which a small, violent minority set fire to cars, homes and public buildings, looted shops, and attacked residents, police officers, firefighters and medical staff. This violence causes lasting harm to the people and neighbourhoods affected. It also harms peaceful demonstrators: their message is drowned out, their safety is put at risk, and their right to protest is called into question.

We believe that protecting the right to protest and stopping riot violence are not opposing goals. They are the same goal.

What we ask for

1. Protect peaceful protest

• Guarantee in law and in practice that peaceful assemblies can take place safely, including spontaneous ones.
• Make a clear distinction between peaceful participants and individuals who commit violence. Nobody should be punished, detained or recorded as an offender merely for being present at an assembly where others turned violent.
• Ensure that any use of force by the authorities is necessary, proportionate and subject to independent oversight.

2. Stop violence firmly and promptly

• Give police and emergency services the staff, training and equipment they need to stop arson, looting and attacks on people quickly.
• Prosecute serious public-order offences consistently and without undue delay, with fair trials for every suspect.
• Hold minors who take part in riot violence accountable in a way suited to their age, through youth justice that combines real consequences with prevention, and involve their parents or guardians in that process.
• Ensure that victims are compensated for damage caused by minors, including through the parental civil liability that most countries already provide, and prosecute adults — parents included — who incite, organise or knowingly enable a minor’s participation in violence.
• Support the victims of riot violence — residents, workers, business owners and emergency personnel — quickly and adequately.

3. Allow military support under a clear legal framework, as a last resort

Where ordinary police capacity is demonstrably overwhelmed, the law should allow the armed forces to support civilian authorities in restoring public order, but only:

• on the basis of a clear legal framework adopted in advance by parliament, within each country’s constitutional limits;
• following a decision by the competent civilian authority, with prompt notification to and oversight by parliament;
• for a limited period, with a defined task, and under civilian command and police leadership;
• primarily for supporting tasks — such as protecting critical infrastructure, securing sites and providing logistics — with personnel trained for these duties;
• never against peaceful assemblies, and with full legal accountability for every action.

Some constitutions strictly limit domestic use of the armed forces. We ask for this question to be addressed openly through each country’s democratic and constitutional processes — never by bypassing them.

4. Detention and return of non-nationals who take part in serious violence, after due process

• Where a person without legal residence takes part in serious violence, the authorities should be able to hold that person temporarily, on a lawful basis and subject to judicial review, in simple, humane facilities that meet the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights and EU law.
• After due process — including an individual assessment, access to legal assistance and an effective remedy before a court — such persons should be prioritised for return to their country of origin or of legal residence.
• For people who are legally resident but are not citizens of the country concerned, existing legal grounds for ending residence on serious public-order grounds should be applied consistently after conviction, following an individual and proportionate assessment. For citizens of other EU Member States, this must remain within the limits of EU free-movement law.
• Nobody may ever be returned to a country where they would face a real risk of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, or persecution. The principle of non-refoulement is absolute.

5. Strengthen a shared European entry-ban mechanism

• Make full and consistent use of existing European tools — in particular the Schengen Information System and the exchange of criminal-record information — so that a person convicted of a serious public-order offence during riots in one country can be refused entry to the others.
• Ensure every entry ban is based on an individual decision, is proportionate and time-limited, can be challenged before a court, and complies with European data-protection law.

Our goal

To protect the right to protest by removing the violent minority from it. Firm, lawful action against violence is the best guarantee that everyone else can continue to demonstrate freely and safely.

Our commitment to the rule of law

This petition does not call for any illegal action. Every measure it proposes must be adopted through democratic, lawful processes and applied in full respect of national constitutions, the European Convention on Human Rights, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and international refugee law, including the principle of non-refoulement. Measures must target conduct — never nationality, ethnicity, religion or political opinion.

The European Public Order Initiative is an independent, non-partisan citizens’ petition. It is not a European Citizens’ Initiative registered under Regulation (EU) 2019/788 and is not affiliated with the European Union or any of its institutions.