The European Parliament is set to deplore, again, on 5 May, in a resolution to be voted on, the EU Council’s lack of political will regarding the so-called ‘Article 7’ Treaty procedures launched in 2017 and 2018 against Poland and Hungary, and to call for decisive action to stop the breaches of the Rule of law in these two countries.
In a draft resolution, the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA and The Left regret that “the hearings have not led to the improvement of the Rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights in Poland and Hungary, and that the situation in both countries has continued to deteriorate”.
They call on “the Council to show genuine commitment to make meaningful progress in the ongoing Article 7 procedures” and consider that “adequate frequency and appropriate organisation of the hearings are a precondition for the effective use of the Article 7 procedure” and that these hearings should be open to the European Parliament.
On the method of informing the Parliament, the resolution calls on the EU Council to “publish comprehensive minutes after each hearing and to provide a proper debriefing to the Parliament” after each exercise.
They also stress that the ‘Article 7’ procedures “can only be effective if the EU Council follows-up by addressing concrete recommendations to the Member States in question”.
Infringements of the rule of European law should also be discussed in these ‘Article 7’ procedures and, in the event of persistent threats to the Rule of law, the EU Council and the Commission should “take additional measures to protect the values of Article 2 of the Treaty”.
Ahead of the vote on Tuesday 3 May, MEPs held a debate with the EU Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, during which many expressed their weariness and frustration with the work of the EU Council.
Several MEPs, such as Jeroen Lenaers (EPP, Netherlands) and Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield (Greens/EFA, France), deplored the absence of the French Presidency of the EU Council, with the French MEP also criticising the fact that the EU Council stops the hearing procedures as soon as “there is a political moment”, for example when Paris chose to postpone the hearing of Hungary - initially scheduled for the end of March but postponed due to the legislative elections in the country - to 23 May.
For Michal Šimečka (Renew Europe, Slovakia), “Article 7 is super powerful on paper, but in practice it is rendered completely ineffective” by the Member States, which have not even activated the vote on the risk of serious violations, even though they are established.
“Fortunately, the Commission has triggered the conditionality” on EU funds, added the Slovak politician, but still casting a doubt over the attitude of the EU Council.
The draft resolution welcomes the notification sent to Hungary on 27 April, which includes serious concerns about corruption risks, Didier Reynders summarised to the European Parliament. The Commissioner also confirmed that he had “no positive developments” to report on the situation in these two countries.
The resolution criticises as well the fact that such a notification has not yet been sent to Poland.
The European Parliament, in this draft text, thus “notes with concern that the Commission has not started such proceedings in regard to Poland, and calls for further assessment and action from the Commission under the Regulation”. It further regrets that “the Commission applies the most narrow interpretation to the Regulation when assessing breaches of the principles of the Rule of law in a Member State”.
Link to the draft resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/1gq (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)