Activities of Daniel FREUND related to 2021/2180(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Commission’s 2021 Rule of Law Report (debate)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the Commission’s 2021 Rule of Law Report
Amendments (12)
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls that Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget (the Conditionality Regulation) integrated the conditionality mechanism into a wider framework, requiring the Commission to use its own annual rule of law reports as a source for its assessments under the Regulation; calls on the Commission to implement the Conditionality Regulation without any further delay by sending written notifications within the meaning of article 6(1) of the Regulation to concerned Member States; recalls that for budget- related measures in the event of violations of the rule of law in a Member State, the competences of parliamentary committees should be determined on the basis of Annex VI of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure if the infringements under the Conditionality Regulation procedure are dealt with in Parliament;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls its resolution of 8 July 2021 on the creation of guidelines for the application of the Conditionality Regulation; insists that the Commission include in its annual rule of law reports a section dedicated to cases where rule of law breaches in a Member State could affect or seriously risk affecting the sound financial management of the Union budget or the protection of the Union’s financial interests in a sufficiently direct way;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Welcomes that the report assesses the state of the rule of law in every Member State; notes, however, that it fails to make a clear distinction between Member States with isolated shortcomings and those with systemic rule of law deficiencies; calls on the Commission to make this distinction in future reports to prevent the report from being misused as a tool to relativize processes of autocratisation in some Member States;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Welcomes recommendation 11 of the EU Citizens Panel 2 on Democracy and Values on the organisation of ‘annual conferences on the rule of law’ ensuring ‘socially diverse national delegations to the conference that include both citizens and civil servants’1a; notes that this recommendations fits with Parliament’s previous calls for an annual Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights cycle; calls on Commission and Council to reconsider their negative answers to Parliament’s request to open negotiations about its proposal; _________________ 1a European Citizens’ Panel 2: “European democracy / Values and rights, rule of law, security”, Recommendations, 2021
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. In the spirit of setting a good example, calls on the Commission to include in future reports an assessment of the EU Institutions’ performance in the areas addressed by the Report, where applicable, and in particular as regards its anti-corruption framework;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Welcomes that the report assesses the state of the rule of law in every Member State; regrets, however, that it fails to make a clear distinction between Member States with isolated shortcomings and those with systemic rule of law deficiencies; calls on the Commission to make this distinction in future reports to prevent the report from being misused as a tool to relativize processes of autocratisation in some Member States;
Amendment 47 #
6. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to use the Commission’s annual rule of law reports to resolutely fight against systemic corruption and devise effective instruments for preventing, combating and sanctioning corruption and fighting fraud, as well as for regularly monitoring the use of public funds, including recovery and resilience facility funds.; reiterates that in Member States with identified systemic corruption, where national preventive measures are not effective, the Commission must make full use of all tools available to protect the EU budget, including through suspensions of funds where necessary
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Welcomes that civil society was consulted during the drafting process; stresses that civil society actors can provide valuable input for the assessment of country-specific situations and provide a more critical view than the concerned government; notes, however, that the consultation can be improved by ensuring, among others, a follow-up with civil society actors to their input given, sufficiently long timeframes for providing input and a coherent annual publication cycle, as well as reconsidering the format of a one-size-fits-all questionnaire for providing input; encourages the Commission to seek further input from civil society on how to optimise the consultation process for future reports;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. Regrets that the draft country chapters were only shared with the respective Member State’s government, giving members of national parliaments the chance to provide input only after the final report was published; stresses the importance of consulting a comprehensive spectrum of all democratic parties in assessing a country-specific situation as governments naturally have an interest in a less critical assessment of the situation; calls on the Commission to provide national parliaments with the draft country chapter at the same time as they are provided to governments;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Notes that since the publication of the 2014 anti-corruption report, the topic never again received similar attention despite subsequent reports including anti- corruption issues; calls on the Commission to biannually publish a dedicated anti-corruption report following the example of 2014, including an analysis of the EU institutions themselves;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Stresses the need for a functioning civil society throughout the Union through the Citizenship, Equality, Rights and Values programme and calls for the creation of the European statute for associations and non-profit organisations;
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8 c. Welcomes that civil society was consulted during the drafting process; stresses that civil society actors can provide valuable input for the assessment of country-specific situations and provide a more critical view than the concerned government; notes, however, that the consultation can be improved by ensuring, among others, a meaningful follow-up with civil society actors to their input given, sufficiently long timeframes for providing input and reconsidering the format of a one-size-fits-all questionnaire for providing input; encourages the Commission to seek further input from civil society on how to optimise the consultation process for future reports;