Members of the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE), on Thursday 1 October, in the presence of Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, gave a positive reception to the first-ever annual report on the Rule of law in the EU27 (see EUROPE 12571/5), a “welcomed” report which, as MEP Emil Radev (EPP, Bulgaria) put it, provides a comprehensive picture on the state of the Rule of law in all Member States.
While the LIBE Committee was to vote later on a resolution on his country (see EUROPE 12572/29), Mr Radev said he hoped that this tool would replace the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism which has applied to his country and Romania since 2007.
Germany's Katarina Barley (S&D) also welcomed the report as it puts an end to the criticism that “we are only looking at a small group of countries” and has the merit of “showing that there are problems everywhere”.
The reception was also positive within the Renew Europe group, with Sophie in 't Veld (Netherlands) welcoming an “excellent” report, “prudent” and “sticking to the facts”.
But many MEPs were also quick to wonder how effective this tool would be. “Will it be the ‘bazooka’ against undemocratic governments? Certainly not, but it is an instrument that can be linked to conditionality (of the European budget)”, the Dutchwoman said.
Her Slovakian colleague Michal Šimečka disagrees: although “historical”, this report cannot allow this link, he says, and it contains a “major weakness” in that it “does not propose any follow-up or recommendations”.
Unsurprisingly, Polish MEP Patryk Jaki (ECR) wondered, on the basis of this report, why judicial reforms that are ultimately similar to what is being done in Spain or even Germany “pose a problem for Poland”.
The GUE/NGL Group, for its part, has asked the Commission to widen next year the scope of the report to the values of Article 2 of the Treaty and to include more independent experts. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)