The confirmation hearing of Michael McGrath, Commissioner-designate for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law, took place on Tuesday 5 November before the members of the European Parliament’s Committees on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and Legal Affairs (JURI).
In his opening remarks, the former Irish finance minister affirmed his determination to make democracy and the rule of law the pillars of his mandate. “In the current geopolitical context, we must cherish and defend the values that make the EU a beacon of peace, tolerance and hope, including democracy, respect for fundamental rights and the rule of law”, he said, outlining the problems associated with disinformation in the run-up to the European elections.
He promised to strengthen the resilience of democracies, notably through a “democratic shield” completing a ‘Defence of Democracy’ legislative package, presented last December (see EUROPE 13312/15), which incorporates various tools to combat foreign interference and information manipulation.
Rule of law. Michael McGrath affirmed his commitment to going beyond statements by strengthening the EU’s tools for guaranteeing respect for the rule of law in the Member States, highlighting their significant development over the last five years.
He promised MEPs that he would improve the follow-up on the recommendations of the annual reports and link the European budget more closely to the EU’s fundamental values. Mr McGrath also gave assurances that competitiveness and the single market would be included in future reports on the rule of law, which he considers essential for SMEs and a favourable investment climate. Turning to Article 7 of the EU Treaty, he was realistic about the persistent blockages linked to the situation in Hungary.
At a subsequent press briefing, Michael McGrath specifically cited the Treaty, which in its current wording prevents the Member States from going any further in the procedure brought against Hungary in 2018 by the European Parliament.
“The Treaty speaks for itself. It requires a 4/5 majority at Council level to reach the conclusion that there is a clear risk (of violating the EU’s fundamental values) and it is clear that this threshold has not yet been reached”, he noted.
The Commissioner-designate does not intend to stop there, however, as he told the MEPs, and will do all he can to ensure that the European Parliament’s voice “is heard at the Council table and that the Parliament’s point of view is taken into account”.
He will put pressure on the EU Council to reach conclusions on this procedure, with significant commitments, in-depth hearings “and, ultimately, a decision”.
Judged to be “solid” during the three and a half hour hearing, the Commissioner-designate tried to convince MEPs of his political will to “find new ways” to act and improve things, he told Greek MEP Konstantínos Arvanítis (The Left).
This is all the more true given that “we are seeing setbacks in too many cases. We must reverse the trend”, he added, and apply “all existing tools”.
The Commissioner-designate affirmed that respect for the rule of law is essential for access to European funds and pledged to strengthen conditionality tools to ensure that Member States respect EU values, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Justice. On the justice front, Michael McGrath expressed his support for closer cooperation between anti-fraud authorities, saying that this was necessary to “make the fight against crime more effective throughout the prosecution chain”. He insisted on the need for greater coordination between the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, Europol and OLAF to protect the EU’s financial interests, and envisaged giving the European Public Prosecutor’s Office extended powers, notably over serious cross-border crime and corruption.
Gender-based violence and victim protection were also a key part of the discussions. The Commissioner-designate promised a “new strategy on victims’ rights” to improve care for victims of crime in a justice system that is more sensitive to their needs. With regard to gender-based violence, Mr McGrath pointed out that the directive on violence against women, adopted this year, is an important step forward (see EUROPE 13431/33), although he felt that more still needed to be done to ensure that it is fully and harmoniously applied in the Member States.
Mr McGrath also reiterated his support for the European Board for Media Services, which he described as “an absolute priority” for guaranteeing the safety of journalists and media diversity.
Consumers. The members of the IMCO committee questioned the Commissioner-designate on the issue of products originating from China and their control, a subject which seems to be of central importance for the Commission in the next mandate.
With the EU recently opening an investigation against the Temu platform for selling potentially dangerous products (see EUROPE 13516/19), Michael McGrath was asked about his future initiatives to curb the phenomenon.
For the Irishman, the solution lies primarily in closer cooperation between the Member States, both at customs level and in terms of controls and investigations.
If confirmed, the Commissioner-designate plans to implement new digital fairness legislation arising from the report of the same name (see EUROPE 13497/6) to address issues not covered by European regulation, such as the addictive design of digital services, personalised targeting and the protection of minors online.
At the end of the hearing, the chairs of the LIBE, IMCO and JURI committees held a press briefing, during which Javier Zarzalejos (EPP, Spanish) welcomed an “intense, exhaustive and positive” exchange. He mentioned Mr McGrath’s commitment to a number of key issues, including “the integrity of democratic processes, judicial cooperation, the protection of victims and the fight against organised crime”.
Anna Cavazzini (Greens/EFA, German) welcomed Mr McGrath’s commitments on online safety and consumer protection, but regretted the lack of “consumer protection” in his title, a concern also expressed by Laura Ballarin (S&D, Spanish), who called on Ursula von der Leyen to include this term.
Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Renew Europe, Bulgarian) said that “European democracy works” and praised the quality of the hearing. The Renew Europe group also congratulated Michael McGrath, in a statement, for his commitment to the rule of law and his determination to introduce an EU strategy against corruption, thereby strengthening confidence in EU values.
Link to his written answers: https://aeur.eu/f/dzu
Link to his mission letter: https://aeur.eu/f/dih (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic, Isalia Stieffatre and Nithya Paquiry)