On Thursday 10 March the European Parliament called on the European Commission to “take urgent action and immediately apply” the Rule of Law Conditionality Mechanism “by sending a written notification to the countries concerned”, namely Poland and Hungary.
By adopting (478 votes in favour, 155 against and 29 abstentions) a resolution by the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe and The Left groups on the follow-up to the EU Court of Justice judgements rejecting Poland and Hungary’s appeal against the regulation allowing the suspension of EU funds in case of a violation of the rule of law, the European Parliament underlined that it is “high time” for the Commission to “fulfil its duties as guardian of the Treaties and to instantly react to the ongoing severe violations of the principles of the rule of law in some Member States” (see EUROPE 12903/25).
The Rule of Law Conditionality Mechanism should cover both the EU budget and the national plans under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
The ECR and ID groups voted against the resolution and the European Parliament rejected all amendments tabled by these groups.
Not the best time. EPP President Manfred Weber (Germany) admitted on Tuesday 8 March that it was not the best time to adopt such a resolution when Poland is “doing a lot” at the moment to welcome refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. Weber insisted that nothing had changed the political approach. “We stand behind these principles. This ‘Rule of Law Mechanism’ must continue to be implemented, there is nothing to negotiate about it, it is not negotiable”, he concluded. On Thursday, seven EPP MEPs (Hetman, Hölvényi, Jarubas, Lexmann, Vincze, Zdechovský and Zver) voted against the resolution. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)