On Monday 29 January, the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, said that the Commission would wait for a signal and a proposal from the European Council before moving forward on the activation of Article 7.2 of the Treaty concerning the establishment of clear violations of the rule of law in Hungary, because there would be “nothing worse” than making a proposal for activation and “seeing it rejected”.
Speaking after a meeting of the EU27 ministers for European affairs in Brussels, which was devoted in particular to the Commission’s latest annual report on the rule of law in the EU27, the European Commissioner was reacting to the European Parliament’s request to activate this new stage of Article 7 against Hungary (see EUROPE 13331/1), which requires unanimity of the Member States (without the country concerned) and must be initiated either by one third of the Member States or by the Commission.
The Belgian Presidency of the EU Council has no formal role to play in this matter, explained the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib, who at the same time reiterated the Presidency’s strong commitment to this dialogue on the rule of law. However, the Belgian Presidency wants to work towards “consensus” on this issue rather than “division”, she said.
On Monday, however, the EU’s European affairs ministers focused on the independence of the judiciary, media pluralism, the fight against corruption and the balance of power in four specific countries - France, Italy, Spain and Croatia - as part of the annual rule of law exercise.
On this occasion, the European Commissioner spoke of the progress made by all parties, but also of persistent concerns, mentioning once again the non-renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary in Spain. The Commission is due to organise a mediation on this subject on 31 January.
In the case of France, the Commissioner highlighted the progress made in digitalising the justice system and welcomed the fact that the country has seen an increase in the number of people working in the justice system. He pointed out certain weaknesses in the laws against lobbying and their implementation, which still needs to be improved, particularly “at the highest level”.
France should also increase transparency on media ownership and on bans on demonstrations.
Didier Reynders also raised a number of questions about a series of laws planned in Italy, notably on the separation of the careers of judges and prosecutors and on the ongoing reform of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
In Croatia, the Commissioner stressed that the independence of the judiciary is perceived as weak by the public and that progress still needs to be made in prosecuting cases of corruption.
Despite some progress, SLAPPs against journalists also remain a worrying phenomenon in Croatia, the Commissioner highlighted. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)