In his answers to written questions from MEPs of the Civil Liberties (LIBE) and Legal Affairs (JURI) Committees of the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12332/8), published on Friday 27 September, the European Commissioner-designate for Justice, Didier Reynders, was categorical: his core task and absolute priority will be to monitor the Rule of law.
"If confirmed as Commissioner, I will focus on the pursuit of social justice in its broad sense. I will therefore endeavour to make sure that the Rule of law is effectively upheld within our Union, that the work on crime prevention and judicial cooperation is intensified and that consumers’ rights are protected in the EU", writes the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, who is a lawyer by training.
Naturally, MEPs wanted to know how his portfolio would interact with that of the other Commissioners. Indeed, not only is the Belgian competent in the field of the Rule of law; the subject is also one of the missions of Czech Republic's Věra Jourová, which will have to "coordinate the Commission's work".
"My first core task is to lead the Commission work to uphold the Rule of law and to preserve it in each and every Member State", he replied. His "immediate priority" will thus be to set up the European mechanism for annual monitoring of the Rule of law (see EUROPE 12328/2), which will be comprehensive, he assures, and will also cover issues relating to media pluralism and elections.
To this end, he will work with "the support" of the Vice-President of the Values and Transparency Commission and in "collaboration" with the Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement to ensure consistency in the internal and external approach to the Rule of law, he explained.
In the fields of Justice, his priorities will be to improve judicial cooperation between European Union authorities and with non-Member States. He intends to place particular emphasis on the independence of judicial authorities and wishes to examine how conditions of detention in the EU could be improved and, if necessary, establish minimum standards for pre-trial detention. He also intends to "seriously" examine the need for a revision of the European arrest warrant.
As regards the application of EU law in the areas covered by his portfolio, Mr Reynders said that he would not hesitate to use infringement proceedings in the event of breaches by Member States, particularly in the field of data protection.
If the written questions did not address the allegations of corruption and money laundering against him (see EUROPE 12328/22), they will probably be the subject of oral questions during his hearing in the European Parliament on Wednesday 2 October.
See written answers: http://bit.ly/2nbKo1P (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)