On Tuesday 25 October, MEPs called on the European Commission to set up new mechanisms to monitor the rule of law in member states, particularly a binding mechanism for assessing the reporting annually on democracy, fundamental rights and the rule of law (see EUROPE 11638).
This mechanism was adopted in a resolution backed by 405 to 171 with 39 abstentions, and should include objective criteria and establish a clear, progressive approach to remedying violations. The European Parliament recommends that the European Commission publish draft legislation by September 2017.
Two ‘rule of law’ mechanisms exist, one at the Commission and one at the Council. The Commission one is a preventative structured dialogue that can lead to the adoption of opinions and recommendations, as happened in the spring for Poland.
The Council rule of law mechanism is more simple – an annual debate that avoids pointing a finger at a specific member state as much as possible. The idea of such a mechanism at Council level was mooted in 2013 by 4 member states, including Germany and Sweden, due to legislative developments in Hungary that caused disagreements with the European Commission. Shortly afterwards, the Commission gave itself a special mechanism, but only activated it this year – against Poland.
During the debate ahead of the vote, the MEP in charge of this issue, Sophie in’t Veld (ALDE, the Netherlands), said they had given instruments to the EU in order to ensure respect of all other policies – such as competition, police and judicial cooperation, and foreign policies – but fundamental European values are not protected by robust enough instruments to ensure that values are respected across the European Union, she said
The European Parliament’s proposal for a European pact on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights aims to incorporate existing tools in these domains in a single instrument, and to ensure they are fully used, the Parliament explains.
The pact is also aimed at filling the apparent gap between monitoring these issues in candidate countries and the lack of effective tools when countries actually join the EU. Also foreseen are regular debates on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in EU institutions and national parliaments.
The European Commission is invited to subject a draft pact by September 2017. The Commission has three months to respond to the Parliament, justifying its reasoning. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)