Brussels, 19/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Council of the EU is expected to decide, in conclusions on 16 December, to hold a political dialogue twice a year on respect for the rule of law in the member states. This was the mood among ministers at the General Affairs Council on Tuesday 18 November, though the frequency of the meetings remains to be decided.
This political dialogue which some, like the United Kingdom, only want to see held in cases of crisis, will complement the rule of law mechanism, presented by the Commission in March, which seeks to prevent breaches of human rights in the member states. The mechanism is based on preventive dialogue and seeks to avoid recourse to Article 7 of the Treaty (suspension of a country's voting rights).
On Tuesday, no reference was made to any specific country, a source says, even though Hungary has long been viewed as one of the countries that have caused the new provisions to be put in place. At any rate, Hungary supported this political dialogue even though, according to a source, it was aware, like Lithuania and the Czech Republic, of the fact that the finger of blame was not being pointed at any country during the discussions.
Frans Timmermans, who had been one of the foreign ministers to propose such a measure, said on Wednesday that “the Council should have an instrument that allows it to have a discussion” on the issue. This, he stated, would not impinge on the Commission's ability to have the rule of law respected. “The two would complement one another very well”, he said (our translations). (SP)