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(5) In its Resolution of 10 June 2011 on a Roadmap for strengthening the rights and protection of victims, in particular in criminal proceedings, the Council stated that action should be taken at the level of the Union in order to strengthen the rights and protection of victims of crime and called on the Commission to present appropriate proposals to that end. In this framework, a mechanism should be created to ensure mutual recognition among Member States of decisions concerning protection measures for victims of crime. According to that Resolution, this Directive, which concerns the mutual recognition of protection measures taken in criminal matters, should be complemented by an appropriate mechanism concerning measures taken in civil matters.

(6) In a common area of justice without internal borders, it is necessary to ensure that the protection provided to a natural person in one Member State is maintained and continued in any other Member State to which the person moves or has moved. It should also be ensured that the legitimate exercise by citizens of the Union of their right to move and reside freely within the territory of Member States, in accordance with Article 3(2) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and Article 21 TFEU, does not result in a loss of their protection.

(7) In order to attain these objectives, this Directive should set out rules whereby the protection stemming from certain protection measures adopted according to the law of one Member State (‘the issuing State’) can be extended to another Member State in which the protected person decides to reside or stay (‘the executing State’).

(8) This Directive takes account of the different legal traditions of the Member States as well as the fact that effective protection can be provided by means of protection orders issued by an authority other than a criminal court. This Directive does not create obligations to modify national systems for adopting protection measures nor does it create obligations to introduce or amend a criminal law system for executing a European protection order.

(9) This Directive applies to protection measures which aim specifically to protect a person against a criminal act of another person which may, in any way, endanger that person’s life or physical, psychological and sexual integrity, for example by preventing any form of harassment, as well as that person’s dignity or personal liberty, for example by preventing abductions, stalking and other forms of indirect coercion, and which aim to prevent new criminal acts or to reduce the consequences of previous criminal acts. These personal rights of the protected person correspond to fundamental values recognised and upheld in all Member States. However, a Member State is not obliged to issue a European protection order on the basis of a criminal measure which does not serve specifically to protect a person, but primarily serves other aims, for example the social rehabilitation of the offender. It is important to underline that this Directive applies to protection measures which aim to protect all victims and not only the victims of gender violence, taking into account the specificities of each type of crime concerned.

(10) This Directive applies to protection measures adopted in criminal matters, and does not therefore cover protection measures adopted in civil matters. For a protection measure to be executable in accordance with this Directive, it is not necessary for a criminal offence to have been established by a final decision. Nor is the criminal, administrative or civil nature of the authority adopting a protection measure relevant. This Directive does not oblige Member States to amend their national law to enable them to adopt protection measures in the context of criminal proceedings.

(11) This Directive is intended to apply to protection measures adopted in favour of victims, or possible victims, of crimes. This Directive should not therefore apply to measures adopted with a view to witness protection.

(12) If a protection measure, as defined in this Directive, is adopted for the protection of a relative of the main protected person, a European protection order may also be requested by and issued in respect of that relative, subject to the conditions laid down in this Directive.

(13) Any request for the issuing of a European protection order should be treated with appropriate speed, taking into account the specific circumstances of the case, including the urgency of the matter, the date foreseen for the arrival of the protected person on the territory of the executing State and, where possible, the degree of risk for the protected person.

(14) Where information is to be provided under this Directive to the protected person or to the person causing danger, this information should also, where relevant, be provided to the guardian or the representative of the person concerned. Due attention should also be paid to the need for the protected person, the person causing danger or the guardian or representative in the proceedings, to receive the information provided for by this Directive, in a language that that person understands.

(15) In the procedures for the issuing and recognition of a European protection order, competent authorities should give appropriate consideration to the needs of victims, including particularly vulnerable persons, such as minors or persons with disabilities.

(16) For the application of this Directive, a protection measure may have been imposed following a judgment within the meaning of Council Framework Decision 2008/947/JHA of 27 November 2008 on the application of the principle of mutual recognition to judgments and probation decisions with a view to the supervision of probation measures and alternative sanctions , or following a decision on supervision measures within the meaning of Council Framework Decision 2009/829/JHA of 23 October 2009 on the application, between Member States of the European Union, of the principle of mutual recognition to decisions on supervision measures as an alternative to provisional detention . If a decision was adopted in the issuing State on the basis of one of those Framework Decisions, the recognition procedure should be followed accordingly in the executing State. This, however, should not exclude the possibility to transfer a European protection order to a Member State other than the State executing decisions based on those Framework Decisions.

(17) In accordance with Article 6 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and with the second paragraph of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the person causing danger should be provided, either during the procedure leading to the adoption of a protection measure or before issuing a European protection order, with the possibility of being heard and challenging the protection measure.

(18) In order to prevent a crime being committed against the victim in the executing State, that State should have the legal means for recognising the decision previously adopted in the issuing State in favour of the victim, while also avoiding the need for the victim to start new proceedings or to produce evidence in the executing State again, as if the issuing State had not adopted the decision. The recognition of the European protection order by the executing State implies, inter alia, that the competent authority of that State, subject to the limitations set out in this Directive, accepts the existence and validity of the protection measure adopted in the issuing State, acknowledges the factual situation described in the European protection order, and agrees that protection should be provided and should continue to be provided in accordance with its national law.

(20) Since, in the Member States, different kinds of authorities (civil, criminal or administrative) are competent to adopt and enforce protection measures, it is appropriate to provide a high degree of flexibility in the cooperation mechanism between the Member States under this Directive. Therefore, the competent authority in the executing State is not required in all cases to take the same protection measure as those which were adopted in the issuing State, and has a degree of discretion to adopt any measure which it deems adequate and appropriate under its national law in a similar case in order to provide continued protection to the protected person in the light of the protection measure adopted in the issuing State as described in the European protection order.

(21) The prohibitions or restrictions to which this Directive applies include, among others, measures aimed at limiting personal or remote contacts between the protected person and the person causing danger, for example by imposing certain conditions on such contacts or imposing restrictions on the contents of communications.