Today, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O'Flaherty, released Observations warning against the premature winding down of protection and assistance for the millions of Ukrainians displaced across Europe by Russia’s ongoing war of aggression.

The Observations build on the Commissioner's earlier statement and come amid a debate over diminishing support for displaced Ukrainians. This includes the potential phasing out or restriction of the EU’s temporary protection arrangements, alongside individual member states’ rollbacks. As of March 2026, more than 4.3 million people displaced from Ukraine were under temporary protection in the EU alone, with hundreds of thousands more residing in non-EU Council of Europe member states.

“To avoid a protection gap for millions of displaced Ukrainians across the continent, Europe’s welcome in 2022 must be matched today by a renewed commitment. Now is the time for more solidarity, not less,” said Commissioner O'Flaherty.

The Commissioner expresses concern about the mounting pressure to prematurely end temporary protection arrangements and restrict access for specific groups, such as men of conscription age and individuals from regions deemed safe. Other worrying trends across Europe include reductions in social support, policies promoting premature returns, and rising anti-Ukrainian sentiment in host countries.

“The current realities on the ground in Ukraine do not meet the conditions for a safe and dignified return. Transitioning individuals out of collective temporary protection without a robust safety net risks driving millions into legal limbo, poverty, and unsafe unvoluntary returns,” added Commissioner O’Flaherty.

Blanket restrictions on temporary protection for specific categories of people raise human rights concerns. The Commissioner emphasised that no part of Ukraine can currently be considered safe; civilian casualties in 2025 and in recent months have reached their highest levels since 2022. Missile and drone attacks continue to strike civilian targets across the country, including western regions far from the front line. Furthermore, issues related to military service may trigger protection claims, and member states must ensure access to individualised assessments.

The Commissioner’s Observations set out guidance for the next phase of Europe's response to displacement from Ukraine, issuing a call to action, rooted in member states’ human rights obligations.

Key recommendations to Council of Europe member states include:

> Ensure continuity of protection for as long as necessary, through the extension of temporary protection or alternative legal statuses, until conditions in Ukraine permit a safe, dignified and durable return, in accordance with international refugee law and human rights obligations.

> Avoid unsafe or premature returns by refraining from policies, such as cuts to social assistance or barriers, that leave displaced persons with no real choice but to leave host countries or live in limbo.

> Guarantee protection without discrimination based on employment status, duration of stay or other factors and explicitly address the needs of vulnerable groups, including older persons, single caregiver women, children, persons with disabilities, and those from temporarily occupied territories. 

> Maintain access to national asylum systems: if transitions or restrictions are introduced to collective protection schemes, states must guarantee full access to individualised asylum procedures.

> Plan for future returns: ensure all returns are voluntary, safe, dignified and well-informed. States should cooperate to plan for long-term reconstruction, property compensation or restitution, and social cohesion for when safe and durable returns become viable.

The Commissioner draws on his 2025 memorandum on human rights elements for peace in Ukraine, consultations with EU stakeholders, the UNHCR, Ukrainian authorities, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, the diaspora and civil society, alongside testimony from displaced Ukrainians in Karlsruhe (Germany), Chișinău (Moldova) and Strasbourg (France)

• Read the Commissioner’s Observations on safeguarding Ukrainians displaced across Europe

European Ombudswoman Teresa Anjinho has concluded that the European Commission’s response to her findings related to the preparation of urgent legislative proposals is overall constructive,  but remains too general to allow her to determine whether future urgent law-making will be sufficiently transparent, evidence-based, and inclusive. The Ombudswoman will therefore continue to monitor the situation through future complaints.

In closing her inquiries into how the Commission prepared three urgent legislative proposals, the Ombudswoman noted that the measures the Commission intends to take are described in general terms only and are often lacking in specificity and concrete commitments.

The Commission’s subsequent Communication on how it intends to reform the Better Regulation rules also does not contain sufficient detail to draw conclusions about whether all the principles of good law-making will be upheld in urgent situations and whether the Ombudswoman’s recommendations and suggestions will be fully followed.

The Ombudswoman found that there remains a risk that urgent procedures could become the prevalent way of EU law-making if the notion of “urgency” is not clearly defined. The Ombudswoman also noted that there is a lack of detail about the procedural and law-making standards the Commission will apply for what it considers to be smaller revisions of EU legislation (targeted initiatives).

In addition, she questioned whether the Commission’s intention to use ‘calls for evidence’ during accelerated law-making will ensure sufficient stakeholder engagement.

The Ombudswoman will be able to better assess these matters once the Commission has revised its Better Regulation rules and applied them in the preparation of future legislative proposals.

Background

In November 2025, the Ombudswoman found a number of procedural shortcomings in how the Commission prepared fast-track legislative proposals concerning corporate sustainability due diligence (Omnibus I), the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and countering migrant smuggling.

In her recommendations to the Commission, she asked it to ensure a predictable, consistent, and non-arbitrary application of the Better Regulation rules and that future urgent preparation of legislative proposals is always transparent, evidence-based, and inclusive.

The Better Regulation Guidelines set out the rules that the Commission follows when preparing new initiatives and proposals as well as when managing and evaluating existing legislation.

The Commission responded to the Ombudsman’s recommendation in February 2026 and published a Communication outlining its intention to revise the Better Regulation rules in April 2026.

During Armed Forces Week the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is urging councils across England to ensure they are genuinely meeting their legal duties to military families - after finding that Shropshire Council left an armed forces child without specialist education support for five months.

The family moved to Shropshire in February 2025 as part of a military posting. Because the child had an Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan, Shropshire Council had been informed of the move two months in advance. Despite this, it failed to arrange a school placement or put interim education in place when the family arrived. After limited online schooling arranged by the previous council ended in April 2025, the child had no education at all for several months at the start of his GCSE preparation course.

The mother made repeated attempts to contact the council, to which its responses were described by the Ombudsman as "woefully inadequate". When she formally complained, the council took four months to provide a final response, offered no adequate remedy, and made no reference to the Armed Forces Covenant.

Amerdeep Clarke, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:

"Armed Forces Week is a moment for the nation to recognise the sacrifices made by those who serve. But recognition must be matched by action. The Armed Forces Covenant is not a gesture - it is a legal duty, and it exists precisely because service families already face considerable disruption through no fault of their own. Senior leaders sign up to covenants, but what matters is that this commitment is felt in the everyday decisions that affect people's lives.

“When a family moves as part of a military posting, the very least they should be able to expect is that the council has their child's support in place from day one. In this case, the council had two months' notice and still left a child with significant special educational needs without his specialist provision for the best part of half a year during the critical start of his GCSE studies.

"I would urge every council in England to look at this case and satisfy themselves that they are genuinely meeting their obligations to armed forces families. The Covenant is not a box-ticking exercise."

The Armed Forces Covenant places a legal duty on councils to ensure military families face no disadvantage in the provision of public services. The SEND Code of Practice specifically requires that transitions are well managed for service children with special educational needs, and that councils work proactively to ensure provision is in place from the moment a child arrives.

Shropshire has around six military bases within its boundaries. The Ombudsman's report notes that the council's own Armed Forces Covenant Action Plan 2025–29 acknowledges outstanding challenges around SEN provision for service children, making the failure to act in this case all the more concerning.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman remedies injustice and shares learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services. In this case the council has agreed to apologise and pay the mother £3,000 to reflect the missed provision.

The Ombudsman has the power to make recommendations to improve processes for the wider public. In this case the council will review its Armed Forces Covenant Action Plan and implement changes to SEND procedures to ensure service children with SEND do not experience gaps in their education when moving into Shropshire.

“Che cosa significa per te il Disability Pride? Di che cosa vai fiero*a?”: le risposte a queste domande sui canali social dell’Osservatorio provinciale sui diritti delle persone con disabilità e in un video sui treni FLIRT dal 1° luglio. L’iniziativa è promossa insieme al Centro di tutela contro le discriminazioni.

Con il 1° luglio prende avvio in tutto il mondo il Disability Pride Month. In questa occasione, l’Osservatorio provinciale sui diritti delle persone con disabilità ha promosso l’iniziativa partecipativa “Che cosa significa per te il Disability Pride? Di che cosa vai fiero*a?”: i contributi ricevuti saranno pubblicati nel corso del mese di luglio sui canali social dell’Osservatorio. L’iniziativa è realizzata con il sostegno del Centro di tutela contro le discriminazioni dell’Alto Adige.

“Disability Pride significa essere orgogliosi/e della propria identità e non dover nascondere ciò che si è”, afferma Brigitte Hofer, presidente dell’Osservatorio provinciale sui diritti delle persone con disabilità.

Nell’ambito dell’iniziativa, proposta per il secondo anno, le persone sono state invitate a condividere la propria visione del Disability Pride attraverso una fotografia e una breve riflessione personale: i contributi ricevuti raccontano la varietà di percorsi di vita, esperienze, interessi e personalità, mostrando come le persone con disabilità siano diverse tra loro esattamente come tutte le altre persone. Inoltre, come già l’anno scorso e grazie a una collaborazione con l’Assessorato provinciale alla Mobilità, sui treni FLIRT e sulle linee più frequentate della SASA a Bolzano sarà trasmesso un video (allegato) in cui i componenti e le componenti dell’Osservatorio provinciale raccontano in prima persona cosa rappresenta per loro il Disability Pride. Il video scorrerà anche sui totem nella sede del Consiglio provinciale a Bolzano.   

Il Disability Pride Month affonda le sue radici nel movimento internazionale per i diritti delle persone con disabilità. Analogamente ad altri movimenti Pride, esso rappresenta un segnale contro i pregiudizi, l’esclusione e le discriminazioni: al centro vi è il messaggio che le persone con disabilità non devono conformarsi a una presunta norma sociale per essere riconosciute e rispettate.

“I contributi raccolti ci ricordano che le persone con disabilità non sono una categoria uniforme: ognuna ha la propria personalità, i propri sogni, le proprie passioni e il proprio modo di vivere. È proprio questa diversità a rendere la nostra società più ricca. Quando ci apriamo all’incontro con l’altro, impariamo gli uni dagli altri e comprendiamo meglio che cosa significa essere umani. Il Disability Pride evidenzia che la diversità è la normalità”, sottolinea Hofer.

La presidente dell’Osservatorio ringrazia inoltre tutte le persone che hanno partecipato all’iniziativa: "Desidero ringraziare di cuore tutte le persone che hanno condiviso una fotografia, un pensiero o una parte della propria storia. Grazie ai loro contributi potremo dare visibilità a esperienze autentiche e mostrare quanto siano diverse e uniche le persone con disabilità, proprio come ogni altra persona nella nostra società”.

Anche Priska Garbin, responsabile del Centro di tutela contro le discriminazioni dell'Alto Adige, accoglie con favore l’iniziativa: “La visibilità è un presupposto fondamentale per l’uguaglianza; i contributi raccolti mostrano chiaramente che le persone con disabilità sono una parte integrante della nostra società. Il Disability Pride rappresenta un messaggio di rispetto, partecipazione e superamento dei pregiudizi”.

I contributi saranno pubblicati sulle pagine Instagram e facebook dell’Osservatorio provinciale sui diritti delle persone con disabilità a partire dal 1° luglio: obiettivo dell’iniziativa è dare visibilità alle voci delle persone con disabilità e rafforzare la consapevolezza sui temi dell’inclusione, dell’autodeterminazione e della diversità nella società.