The European Parliament ruled, on Thursday 25 March, that the Rule of law conditionality regulation has been applicable since 1 January 2021 and that breaches occurring before the entry into force of the regulation may also trigger measures in the form of suspension of EU funds (see EUROPE 12681/17).
A plenary debate had taken place on 11 March (see EUROPE 12676/6).
Poland and Hungary have appealed to the Court of Justice of the EU to have the text annulled. By adopting (529 votes in favour, 148 against and 10 abstentions) in plenary a resolution from the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA and The Left groups, the European Parliament is preparing to defend the validity of the regulation before this Court.
The Parliament informed the Commission that if “it fails to comply with its obligations under the Regulation and to provide the above information by 1 June 2021, the European Parliament will consider this to constitute a failure to act and will take action against the Commission under Article 265 of the Treaty”. According to this article, if the EU institutions fail to act in violation of the Treaties, the Member States and the other institutions may refer the matter to the Court to establish this violation.
The Commission is invited to adopt the guidelines on this regulation by 1 June 2021.
“If the European Commission does not fulfil its obligations under the Regulation by 1 June 2021, the European Parliament will take legal action for refusal to act under Article 265 of the Treaty. Respect for our European values is not optional”, says the Renew Europe group in the Parliament, in a press release.
The EPP group also wants the new Rule of law conditionality mechanism to “start operating fully as soon as possible” and calls on the Commission not to delay further the adoption of guidelines on the application of the new rules. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)