On Tuesday 24 September, the EU27 European Affairs ministers debated the general state of the Rule of law in the EU27, on the basis of the Commission’s latest report published in July.
At the press conference, the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, pointed out that this latest report had revealed positive trends in the Member States, with “68% of the recommendations” from the previous year applied “in full or in part”.
The Hungarian Minister for European Affairs, János Bóka, also noted the ministers’ convergence of views on this annual exercise, with a “generally positive assessment” and progress in implementing the recommendations. The debate provided an opportunity to reiterate the added value of this exchange of best practice and lessons learned. He also stressed the importance of maintaining an “objective” debate on this subject.
The vast majority of Member States welcomed Finland and Sweden’s initiative to further link the Rule of law to European funds (see EUROPE 13488/21).
Spain, too, welcomed this exercise in dialogue on the Rule of law, which has borne fruit in the country with a cross-party agreement on the renewal of the Council of the Judiciary, under the sponsorship of the Commission.
Finland welcomed as well the willingness of the future Commission to integrate a ‘Rule of law’ dimension into the single market and into the operation of SMEs.
Poland, for its part, reiterated during the discussion the importance for Member States of fostering “a dynamic civil society” and preserving media freedom.
Slovakia is said to have been critical of this dialogue exercise and its methodology.
There was no mention, however, of the ‘Article 7’ procedure launched against Hungary, although countries such as Spain want to see a new hearing organised soon.
On Tuesday, the ministers also welcomed, for the first time, their counterparts from four EU candidate countries - Serbia, Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia - who explained the reforms underway in their respective countries regarding respect for the Rule of law.
Schengen at the European Summit? On arriving at the meeting, Poland’s Minister for European Affairs, Adam Szłapka, reiterated that it was “unacceptable” for Warsaw “to undermine the principles of and confidence in the Schengen area for domestic political reasons” referring to the new measures introduced by the German government.
“It is therefore likely that this issue will also be addressed at the October Summit, but I assume that we will already have made some progress in resolving this issue before the European Council”, he added.
“We need to talk to our partners, to those who also think that such a position is not right, and an unequivocal position from Austria, the Czech Republic and all of Germany’s neighbours seem to me to be an essential form of pressure on Germany in this respect”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)