The German Presidency of the Council of the European Union will make the rule of law a "central point" of its action and will have several projects to carry out: the attacks on fundamental freedoms observed during the Covid-19 pandemic, the first annual report on the rule of law expected in September, but also the conditionality of the European budget and the continuation of the Article 7 procedures currently launched against Poland and Hungary.
German Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht confirmed to European journalists on Wednesday 1 July that the rule of law would be high on the Presidency's agenda. "The principles of democracy and the rule of law are fundamental to our living together", she said.
One of the discussions will focus on how citizens experienced the restrictions on individual freedoms during the pandemic and the criticisms that have been made. The informal meeting of Justice Ministers on 6 July will be an opportunity to return to this issue.
On the basis of the Commission's first annual report on the rule of law, the German Presidency intends to "conduct a political dialogue on the rule of law on an equal footing in the Council with the participation of all Member States", says the Berlin work programme.
"This dialogue will take the form of two discussions: an annual discussion on the report as a whole and its horizontal aspects and a six-monthly discussion on the first country chapters of the report, so that all Member States are covered".
The aim will be to promote a better understanding of the situation in each Member State, to identify risks at an early stage and to be able to offer support. This type of dialogue must be complementary to other mechanisms, the programme says.
On the Article 7 procedures, while the Minister did not say anything about how the process should continue in the EU Council, the work programme recalls that "where Member States have deficits in the rule of law, the mechanisms provided for in the European Treaties must be resolutely used. This applies both to proceedings under Article 7 and to proceedings before the European Court of Justice".
The 'knot' of EU funding conditionality
Finally, although the President of the European Council is leading the negotiations, Berlin will have to deal with the issue of making the granting of European funds conditional on respect for the rule of law, perhaps as early as the European Summit on 17 and 18 July.
Germany officially supports the Commission's proposal establishing cross-compliance. But, in practice, maintaining this link would be complex in order to achieve rapid unanimity among Member States on the draft multiannual financial framework 2021-2027. Germany would no longer be persuaded that this link should be maintained. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with Aminata Niang and Mathieu Bion)