Brussels, 18/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 18 March, the General Affairs Council in Brussels warmly welcomed the text of the communication on a new EU framework to strengthen the rule of law (see EUROPE 11036). Many delegations asked the Council to continue discussions on this mechanism, on which the European Commission intends to act on the basis of the treaties. Numerous countries also underlined that the member states will have to be treated on an equal footing in the procedure.
The communication was particularly welcomed by the four countries (Germany, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands) that, in spring 2013, were particularly concerned about the fundamental rights situation in the EU and launched an initiative to remedy this issue. The initiative of these countries came to life after the various debates linked to the reforms in Hungary. Other EU countries also backed the Commission's text on Tuesday - including Italy, Croatia, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Ireland and Poland.
Many countries called on the Council to continue the discussion on this rule of law monitoring initiative. Denmark even suggested that the Council adopt conclusions on the Commission communication.
A substantial number of countries (including Romania, Slovakia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Malta) believed that there should not be any discrimination (equal treatment among all the countries) in the procedure. The principle of subsidiarity and proportionality were also discussed, particularly by Slovakia, Luxembourg, and Slovenia. France believed that it was necessary to continue the debate to ensure that the procedure was fully legitimate. France has doubts about the possibility of the Commission issuing recommendations because Article 7 of the Treaty reserves this right for the Council.
Several countries (including Italy, the UK, Malta and Poland) judged it important to find synergy with what is being done at the Council of Europe level (Venice commission) and to avoid overlap. Some countries (particularly Slovakia, Croatia and Spain) asked the Commission to establish clear criteria for starting this procedure.
Some delegations (Croatia, Malta and Sweden) asked on what basis of information the Commission would judge that there is a systematic threat. Sweden wanted to know if social media were included.
The most critical countries were Hungary, the UK and Lithuania. They raised doubts about the compatibility of this initiative with the treaty, and in Lithuania's view, the matter should not be rushed too much. Hungary believed that, with this initiative, political and legal considerations were being mixed.
European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding noted “strong support” at the Council for her communication and stated, in reference to the Ukrainian crisis, that, if the EU wants to uphold the rule of law credibly outside the EU, “we have to first ensure the rule of law is enshrined internally in our Union”. Several countries, like Germany, Finland and Spain, also brought up the point that, in order to be credible on the international stage, the EU must be irreproachable as regards the rule of law. (LC)