The European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee extended on Monday 16 September the mandate of its working party on rule of law issues to become the ‘Monitoring Group on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights’, the LIBE Committee announced in a statement. The new mission of the group will be to focus on “threats to democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in all Member States, as well as the fight against corruption”.
It will continue to be chaired by Sophie in't Veld (Renew Europe, the Netherlands), who was re-elected to this position on Monday evening in Strasbourg.
The working party may recommend specific actions such as meetings with stakeholders, hearings and missions and suggest proposals for resolutions and reports. The group's mandate will remain in effect until 31 December 2021, when a mid-term review will be conducted, the statement added.
In Brussels, on 16 September, the first Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, responsible for Fundamental Rights and the Rule of Law, assured that the vigilance and work of the incoming von der Leyen Commission on these rule of law issues would be of the same intensity as at present and that just because the Dutchman changes hats does not mean that work will stop, he assured in the margins of the General Affairs Council. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)