Brussels, 05/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - A lower level of tolerance to trigger action and early warnings to states in the event of the systematic violation of fundamental rights. These are the areas of reflection presented on Wednesday 4 September by the European Commissioner for Justice, Viviane Reding, in a speech to the Centre for European Studies outlining her vision of a new rule of law mechanism. This mechanism, the aim of which is to respond to any deviations of the member states from the path of the European fundamental values, was raised as a possibility in September 2012 by the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and then became the subject of a joint initiative by four countries, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands and Denmark.
Commissioner Reding would like to see such a mechanism apply to all member states rather than just the countries which most recently joined the EU, such as Hungary, where the various constitutional modifications were the cause of vigorous discussions throughout 2011 and 2012 and which have only just settled down. “Any new tool (…) has to be applicable and in the same way - on the same threshold of a serious and systematic threat to the rule of law - to all member states, big or small, north or south, east or west”, Reding explained. “You certainly have noted that when a journalist is put under pressure in one of our eastern member states, foreign ministers from Germany, Britain, France, Sweden and Finland get very excited and ask the Commission to intervene. The European Parliament immediately calls for a plenary debate and tables a motion for a resolution condemning this incident”, the Commissioner continued ironically. “But we received not a single call from all these foreign ministers and all these parliamentarians when Mr Miranda was arrested at the airport in London three weeks ago. Or when the Guardian had to destroy certain evidence on request of the British government”, the Luxembourg Commissioner continued.
President Barroso is expected to go into greater detail on this future mechanism to safeguard the rule of law in Strasbourg next week, in his speech on the state of the Union. However, Reding put forward a few ideas on Wednesday, such as starting by making full use of the potential offered “by the existing treaties”. On article 7, described as a nuclear bomb as, in the most extreme cases, it could lead to the suspension of a country's voting rights, the Commissioner suggested that the Executive could send formal opinions to the states in question, as it does “for infringement proceedings” when there is reason to believe that there is a growing tendency in that state systematically to violate the principles of the rule of law. Then, in the framework of any revision of the treaties, lowering the “very high” threshold above which the article 7 procedure can be triggered could be considered, Reding suggested. She also put forward the notion of extending the powers of the European Fundamental Rights Agency; and the role of the European Court of Justice could also be stepped up. Lastly, the Luxembourg official would ideally like article 51 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights to be rescinded one day, as it limits its scope of application and restricts it to Community policies alone. This move would therefore have the effect of making the fundamental rights directly applicable to the member states. “I admit that this would be a very big federalising step”, Reding conceded.
In the meantime, the Commission is planning the adoption: - of guidelines on how to use Article 7 in the framework of the current treaties (adoption by the end of this year or early 2014); - of a communication on the possible format of this specific mechanism by virtue of the new Treaty. This contribution would come in spring 2014, as the Commission hopes to publish it before the elections. (SP/transl.fl)