On Thursday 30 March, MEPs adopted by a show of hands their report assessing the Commission’s work on its 2022 annual report on the state of the rule of law in the Member States (see EUROPE 13116/18).
Presented annually since 2020, this report assesses the situation of judicial independence, media independence, anti-corruption arsenal and the balance of checks and balances in each Member State.
The resolution adopted on Thursday highlights improvements to the Commission’s annual report, which have taken into account some of the European Parliament’s earlier remarks, but MEPs still want the scope of the analysis “to be widened to cover all EU values (article 2 of the Treaty)” and for the report to make a more direct link with the activation of tools to protect EU values and the EU budget.
They also want the Commission to acknowledge more clearly “the proven setbacks” to the rule of law in some Member States, without naming them.
The resolution also refers to the worrying situation of press freedom and pluralism in some member countries. The text criticises “the worrying trends in press freedom, media pluralism and the safety of journalists observed in several Member States and invites the Commission to closely monitor the media situation in future editions of the report and to make recommendations and follow up with appropriate policy and legal measures”.
The resolution also regrets the lack of country-specific recommendations on the illegal use of spyware by Member States and the continued politicisation of national judicial councils in some countries.
MEPs discussed the situation in Greece, Spain and Malta with Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová on Thursday morning. Greece and Spain are regularly the subject of hearings in the European Parliament.
Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/64y (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)