Meeting informally in Brussels, the EU27’s ministers for European affairs discussed ways to strengthen the tools for ensuring the rule of law is respected in the context of the upcoming enlargements.
They based their discussion on a report by International IDEA (the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance) and a note prepared by German minister Anna Lührmann.
“We are asking candidate countries to undertake significant reforms in order to, of course, meet European standards, to commit to long-term stability, and to be ready to integrate themselves into our European family, and that is where the rule of law comes in [...] because our Union is [...] a Union of values”, commented Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hadja Lahbib.
“We should never [...] dilute [our] values”, she insisted, going on to point out, “Without respect for the rule of law, there is no [...] single market that can function”.
The ministers discussed how to strengthen Article 7 and refine tools, such as the regulation on the conditionality of funding.
International IDEA recommends optimising this EU toolbox and, for example, making the release of new funding conditional on the implementation of the latest rule-of-law acquis.
Published by Politico, the German minister’s note calls for [the EU] to examine a general rule-of-law instrument that would allow funds to be frozen or withheld without tying it to a specific objective.
It would also be a matter of strengthening Article 7 with additional sanctions other than the suspension of voting rights.
Link to the press release from International IDEA: https://aeur.eu/f/c0x (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)