Activities of Angel DZHAMBAZKI related to 2021/2180(INI)
Legal basis opinions (0)
Amendments (32)
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines that the annual Rule of Law Report is a key element of the EU’s Rule of Law Toolbox and should contain measured and transparent assessment criteria;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Emphasises the important role of the Committee on Petitions in identifying and flagging possible breaches of the rule of law by both national and Union administrations, taking into account the numerous petitions received from citizens concerned about breaches of the rule of law in several Member States; strongly believes that full protection of all EU citizens can only be ensured throughout the Union if all Member States and EU institutions comply with all principles of the rule of law and the division of competences as granted in the Treaties;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls that respect for the rule of law entails compliance with EU primary and secondary law, andhas nothing to do with compliance with the corealleged principle of the primacy of EU law;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Emphasises that judicial accountability and prosecutorial and judicial independence are crucial components of the rule of law; calls on the Commission to enforce these core EU values when they are infringed by Member States in order to increase citizens’ trust in the judiciary;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic have shown that measures taken in urgency can have democratic deficits and lead to corruption, and that they lack proper scrutiny; stresses, therefore, the need forneed to be followed by clear legal arrangements ensuring respect for the rule of law also during times of crisilaw and the fundamental rights;
Amendment 22 #
4. Points to the high amount of petitions1 in relation toNotes petitions1 on the impact and challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic; recalls for an investigation into whether COVID-19-related measures were limited in time and whether their necessity and proportionality was justified; requests an assessment of the checks and balances during the pandemic, especially given that courts in several Member States have already ruled that certain measures were not consistent with the national constitution; underlines the need to have a clear legal regime in place before a crisisof guidelines in place before a crisis in order to ensure the proportionality and the necessity of the measures taken ; _________________ 1 Petitions No 1438/2020, 1469/2020, 1493/2020, 1501/2020, 0038/2021, 0046/2021, 0053/2021, 0106/2021, 0152/2021, 0186/2021 and 0533/2021.
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for the inclusion of an overview per Member State of all enforcement actions undertaken by the Commission, including pending infringement proceedings, as well as the state of compliance with Court of Justice of the European Union and European Court of Human Rights rulings, feeding into a comprehensive Application of the EU Law Scoreboard;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that emergency regimes and decree-laws were urgently instated by governments in several Member States because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that this has affected the functioning of the national justice systems and the activity of the courts; draws attention to the lack of participation and the non- involvement of national parliaments in the decision-making and the closure of parliaments during the pandemic, which has increased the power of governments and has led to a lack of accountability and transparency;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. WelcomesTakes note of the Commission’s second Rule of Law Report (‘the Report’) and considers that the periodic review of the state of the rule of law is of great significance and is an essential monitoring tool; welcomstresses the importance that it rightly places on justice systems; stresses that effectiveness, independence and, efficiency are threend neutrality are four characteristics of justice systems which are equally essential for upholding the rule of law and which constitute the basis for mutual trust within the EU’s area of freedom, security and justice; notes the need for lawyers, judges and prosecutors to be able to exercise their functions with full autonomy and independence, without interference from any other institution or body, in accordance with the principle of the separation of powers; argues that this is an indispensable condition for ensuring equality and the protection of citizens’ rights under the law; with regard to judges specifically, emphasises that the politicisation of some of their unions undermines their neutrality and credibility;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recalls that an efficient and fair justice system ensuring access to justice to all requiresdoes not depend only on an appropriate budget and financing, the strengthening of measures aimed at limiting the duration and costs of both contentious and administrative proceedings, as well as making sufficient legal aid and remedies available to citizens;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the fact that lawyers are now part of the EU Justice Scoreboard’s questionnaire; stresses that independent lawyers are also essential to independent justice systems; reiterates the need for lawyers and the judiciary to be highly qualified and regularly trained in the rule of law and in EU law in general, and calls on the Commission to extend the scope of its next Report to include this area;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. WelcomesExpresses its disapproval of the Commission proposals to include country- specific recommendations as of 2022, as per Parliament’s resolution of 25 October 2016; calls on the Commission to monitor and report on their implementation;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Is deeply preoccupied by the fact that judicial independence continues to be an issue of serious concern in some Member States; cwondemns the continued political attacks on the independence of judiciary,rs why the primacy of EU law and the implementation of the CJEU’s rulings in Hungary and Poland; notes with deep regret that these attacks have been worsening since the publication of the Report and often target judges and prosecutors who have contested the backsliding on judicial independencethe Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain keep being called into question;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Defends the position that the principle of the separation of powers is essential to the proper functioning of justice systems across the EU and requires institutional structures where not only judges but also prosecution services are independent from undue political pressures to refrain from exercising undue political pressure on the judicial structures;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses the indispensability of enforcing court sentences, both at national and EU level; condemns all national and regional governments on EU territory that refuse to follow judgments; emphasises that sentences of the Court of Justice of the European Union have to be implemented in a timely manner and as soon as possible in accordance with the Treaties, which the Member States agreed to comply with5 in those topics where the European Union has exclusive competences; _________________ 5 Petition No 0858/2017.
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Highlights that constitutional checks and balances at EU level should be included in the report; cCommits to requesting a Venice Commission opinion on key principles of democracy in EU governance, in particular the separation of powers, accountability and checks and balances;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Regrets the attitudes of the Catalan government authorities, boasting publicly of their refusal to comply with the judgments ruled by the competent courts in the field of education, flagrantly breaching the right of children to study in the official language of their Member State; considers that these attitudes and actions, together with the harassment of the plaintiffs, jeopardise the compliance of the rule of law and the separation of powers, thereby seriously harming the law and the rights of citizens;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Invites the Commission to take measures to strengthen corruption prevention6 in order to create more transparency in administration and improve access to information about lobbying and oversight of political party, trade unions, NGOs and employers' associations financing; _________________ 6 Petitions No 0822/2020 and 0194/2020.
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 72 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Urges the Council to resume all pending procedures under Article 7(1) TEU and to inform Parliament thereof; underlines that any further delaying of such action would amount to a breach of the rule of law principle by the Council itselfNotes the state of play at the Council with regard to the procedures under Article 7(1) TEU;
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Observes that fake news and the resulting misinformation aimed at EU citizens are a threat to our EU democracies10 especially when the source of misinformation is founded in the institutions of the European Union or the Member States; notes, however, that overly extensive control of false information and the increased promotion of disinformation campaigns may lead to a violation of Article 11(1) of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights which guarantees the right to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authorities and regardless of borders11 ; _________________ 10 Petitions No 1310/2019, 0268/2020, 0743/2020 and 1293/2020. 11 Petition No 1336/2020.
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Is concerned about the increase in hate crimes agpropaganda campaigns that minorities, in particular those related to religious beliefs, political ideas and sexual orientation12 ; is aware of the difficult balance between hate speech and freedom of expression and acknowledges that the boundaries are hard to defineare being targeted with hate crimes; Points out that the balance between hate speech and freedom of expression is very hard to define and therefore before taking legal or any other measures, detail analysis should be made; in this regard recalls the need of strict supervision of the codes and mechanisms used by social media platforms to make their assessments on posted content; _________________ 12 Petitions No 0354/2020, 0657/2020, 1038/2020, 0471/2021, 0480/2021, 0667/2021, 0704/2021, 0725/2021, 0820/2021, 0855/2021 and 0894/2021.
Amendment 90 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
Amendment 98 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Underlines that the role of civil society organisations is of particular importance; calls on the Commission to foster debates with civil society organisations in order to take note of all their concerns and involve them more effectively in follow-up meetings; highlights the need to offer longer consultation periods to guarantee proper participation of all civil society organisations., while noting at the same time that a clear set of rules on their financing should be developed;
Amendment 105 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Deplores the actions of concealment and omission carried by public administrations in relation to the sexual abuse of minors under the care of regional administrations in Spain[1];recalls that the rights of minors must be protected super omnia; condemns those politicians who tried to dismiss parliamentary investigations aimed at clarifying responsibilities for ideological or partisan reasons16a; _________________ 16a Petition No 1313/2020 and 0468/2021
Amendment 106 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16 b. Condemns the restriction to the freedom of movement of citizens affected by the "low emission zones" imposed in big cities; regrets that these arbitrary political measures mainly harm the most vulnerable citizens who cannot renounce to use their old cars16b _________________ 16b PetitionNo 1358/2020 and 0621/2021
Amendment 109 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 16 c (new)
Paragraph 16 c (new)
16 c. Shows its total solidarity and full support for all victims of terrorism; condemns the fact that current governments negotiate with the heirs of armed bands; regrets that there are still unsolved terrorist attacks, especially the 379 unsolved murders committed by the terrorist group ETA16c _________________ 16c Fact Finding Mission to Vitoria and Madrid, Spain for the 379 unsolved cases of murders perpetrated by the terrorist group ETA