The informal meeting of European Affairs ministers in Copenhagen on Tuesday 2 September was also an opportunity to discuss once again the state of the rule of law in the EU.
While the Commission published a new edition of its annual report in July (see EUROPE 13676/27), the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU had also set out some ideas in a concept paper.
In particular, with regard to the conditionality of the European budget, it wanted to know how to link the release of European funds even more closely to reforms in favour of the rule of law, and how to enhance the tools for strengthening the rule of law before problems arise. The effectiveness of Article 7 of the Treaty, which is still active against Hungary, was also raised by the Presidency, as was the need to target the annual dialogues more and make them more political.
At the end of the working day, the European Commissioner for Justice, Michael McGrath, recalled the Commission’s action and the addition of a new economic dimension to the annual report, which now examines the link between the rule of law and the single market.
He also reiterated Ursula von der Leyen’s wish, in the context of the new European budget for 2028-2034, to link European funding more explicitly to positive reforms to maintain and uphold the rule of law.
The General Affairs Council of the EU will return to these issues on 16 September for a new annual dialogue on the rule of law, as well as a discussion on several EU candidate countries - the relevant ministers from Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia will be invited.
In November, a new ‘country by country’ discussion will be held at the EU Council. The countries studied could be Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Ireland and Germany. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)