On Wednesday 28 June, the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE) began work on a report examining the state of fundamental rights in the EU in 2022 and 2023.
Submitted by Katarina Barley (S&D, German), the draft report follows the structure of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and will be based, in its final version, on the annual report of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) (see EUROPE 13197/16).
The first chapter looks at the rule of law and access to justice, with particular emphasis on media freedom, the misuse of emergency legislation and corruption. The following sections are devoted to collective and individual freedoms, non-discrimination, social, economic and environmental rights, and institutional safeguards to protect fundamental rights.
Avoiding that the issue “falls hostage” to party-political interests
The rapporteur called on MEPs to limit references to the specific situations of Member States to cases where “there is a legal basis at EU level”, such as an infringement procedure or cases relating to the conditionality mechanism of the rule of law, fearing “a party-political battle”.
This approach did not entirely convince Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, German) and Yana Toom (Renew Europe, Estonian). Ms Toom pointed out that infringement proceedings, for example, are linked to events “that happened years before” and therefore do not reflect more recent developments.
To see the text, go to https://aeur.eu/f/7so
Media and election integrity
The LIBE Committee also discussed the work of the Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights Monitoring Group. Its chair, Sophie in ’t Veld (Renew Europe, Dutch), deplored the “growing resistance” to translating their analyses into European Parliament resolutions.
MEPs from across the political spectrum have called for greater attention to be paid to media freedom and the integrity of elections. Ms in ’t Veld added that the group would continue to “watch closely” the situation in Malta, Slovakia, Greece and Bulgaria. (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)