Renewed until 2030 the Interinstitutional Agreement to Cooperate against Racism, Xenophobia, LGTBIphobia and Other Forms of Intolerance

The Interinstitutional Agreement to Cooperate Against Racism, Xenophobia, LGBTIphobia and Other Forms of Intolerance will be renewed for another four years until 2030, as agreed at the 20th meeting of the Agreement’s Follow-up Committee. The objectives set for the next four years are to promote the protection of victims, adapt the tools to the changes and continue to improve coordination among all the actors involved.

This Interinstitutional Agreement is an initiative promoted in 2015 by the Secretary of State for Migration and its objective is to coordinate ministries and public administrations to ensure equality and fight hate crimes. The members of the Agreement are committed to a more just, inclusive and respectful society, in which no one is discriminated against by their origin, orientation, identity and their creencias.Por first time, the Ministry of Inclusion holds the annual rotating presidency of the Agreement.

The Secretary of State for Migration, Pilar Cancela, said at the meeting that cooperation between various administrations is of vital importance, for this reason it is necessary that “the fight against hatred is based on a coordinated, transversal and sustained action over time”.

Pilar Cancela highlighted that in the last ten years “the collection and analysis of data on hate crimes has improved, the training of professionals has been strengthened and coordination tools have been promoted, but hatred takes new forms, more subtle, although equally harmful”.

In terms of the persecution of hate speech, the withdrawal of messages on social networks by platforms continues to improve; in May it reached 65% of withdrawal according to the OBERAXE Monitoring Bulletin.

Protection of victims of crime

The Follow-up Committee has examined Directive 2026/1472 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2026 laying down minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime. Its main purpose is to improve the participation of those affected in criminal proceedings, guarantee universal access to justice and avoid secondary or repeated victimization. In addition, special attention will be paid to those who suffer intersectional discrimination or are in situations of extreme vulnerability.

Among the innovations that the Directive will bring is the implementation of the toll-free telephone number 116006 throughout the European Union, which will provide emotional and informative support to victims of crime.

On the other hand, complaint mechanisms will be provided through digital communication technologies and the complaint will be formally regulated through third parties, such as NGOs, to combat the complaint below.

In addition, through the Directive, the assessment of the needs of support and physical protection of each person will be strengthened with measures such as the use of shelters and restraining orders. The regulation will also guarantee the right to free legal assistance for victims in vulnerable conditions who are parties to criminal proceedings. The deadline for the adoption of the main measures by the Member States is 2 July 2028.

Training in the fight against xenophobia and racism

All the members of the Agreement have participated this year in different formations carried out in the institutions, such as the one organized by the Spanish Observatory of Racism and Xenophobia (OBERAXE) together with the National Institute of Public Administration (INAP) on “Prevention and fight against xenophobia and racism”. An activity that provides a comprehensive view of the prevention and fight against xenophobia and racism, as well as hate speech, both online and offline, and hate crime.

Space for coordination between institutions

The Agreement to Cooperate Institutionally Against Racism, Xenophobia, LGBTIophobia and Other Forms of Intolerance was born in 2015 on the proposal of the Secretary of State for Migration, and provides a stable framework of coordination between institutions that allows strategies to be aligned, information to be shared and different resources to be optimized.

The meeting presented the advances of the different working groups that develop in this framework in 2026, which focus on Training and awareness, Sentence analysis and collection of statistical data, Hate speech and Hate speech in sport.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the signatory institutions such as the General Council of the Judiciary, the Attorney General’s Office and the Ministries of the Interior; Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts; Equality; Education, Vocational Training and Sport; Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030 and Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. Representatives of civil society organizations such as the Third Sector Platform or the State Council of the Gypsy People have also attended as observers.