The item was not on the agenda of the General Affairs Council, as the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU considered that there had been no particular developments since the last ministerial meeting on 19 February. However, the issue of the rule of law and the ongoing proceedings concerning Poland and Hungary under Article 7 of the Treaty occupied the European Affairs Ministers on the margins of the EU Council on Tuesday 19 March in Brussels.
In particular, they were invited to join the project for a mechanism on the rule of law and 'peer review', developed three years ago by the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Didier Reynders, and publicly endorsed on 19 March by the German Secretary of State for European Affairs, Michael Roth (see EUROPE 12014/1).
At a joint press briefing, the two men explained that the aim was to develop a new political mechanism, not legally enshrined in the Treaties as is the Article 7 procedure, but which could, as with the budget process for the European Semester, operate with criteria to be respected and country-specific recommendations.
The Commission could intervene at a specific moment in case a country violates the criteria, but this step has not yet been specifically planned, although the first Vice-President of the Commission, Frans Timmermans, was also with the ministers on Tuesday morning, during an informal breakfast.
The two men's idea is to establish a regular assessment of compliance with the principles of the rule of law “in all Member States”, Michael Roth insisted, listing the many “challenges” currently facing the Twenty-Eight, "such as anti-Semitism”. This informal and voluntary mechanism would also have the effect of counteracting the criticism in Article 7 that it would be an instrument of “West against East”, as the German Minister recounted.
According to the two men, all Member States, including Italy, would in any case adopt this instrument, and they were "all represented" on Tuesday morning. The principle of this mechanism would be to ‘scrutinise’ judicial independence or effective judicial protection and to bring out good practices between Member States. A factual report could be prepared on the basis of these periodic exchanges and be taken to the ministerial level. Ministers made it clear that this informal mechanism would not, however, replace Article 7, which will remain a valuable tool.
Asked about this peer review at the General Affairs Council press conference, Frans Timmermans stressed that all Member States agreed that it “must strengthen the current instruments” enshrined in the Treaty or tools such as the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and in “no case” constitute “an alternative” to these existing instruments. In this sense, Frans Timmermans believes that peer review will aim to strengthen the rule of law in the Member States.
Manfred Weber develops his own idea for the rule of law
This proposal, launched in the first place by Belgium and Minister Reynders, is essentially different from the proposal that the EPP Spitzenkandidat, the German Manfred Weber, has also made known.
The Christian Democratic leader in the European Parliament, who announced an initiative on the rule of law last November in Helsinki, proposed that an independent body “protected from political pressure, transparent and effective” could carry out this monitoring of the rule of law in the Member States.
A panel of nine experts would be set up to regularly review the current state of judicial independence and press freedom. They would also investigate judicial and administrative corruption in all Member States, proposed the candidate for Jean-Claude Juncker's succession.
Judith Sargentini (Greens/EFA, the Netherlands), who initiated the Article 7 procedure against Hungary (see EUROPE 12094/14), said that the working ideas announced by the German MEP were based on ideas already put forward by Parliament, but were a step in the right direction, she said at a lunch with the press. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)