26 Amendments of Josef WEIDENHOLZER related to 2012/2130(INI)
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the European Union is founded on the values of democracy and the rule of lawrespect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities, as set out in Article 2 TEU, on unequivocal respect for fundamental rights and freedoms as enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and in the ECHR, and on the recognition of the legal value of such rights, freedoms and principles, as is further demonstrated by the EU’s forthcoming accession to the ECHR pursuant to Article 6(2) TEU; (The values listed in Article 2 TEU should all be mentioned in the recital.)
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the values set out in Article 2 TEU have to be addressed politically and legally, this being an indispensable foundation of our democratic society, and whereas, therefore, Member States, as well as all the EU institutions, must commit themselves to them, clearly and unambiguously;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas respect for the Union’s common values goes hand in hand with the EU’s commitment to diversity, translated into the obligation for the Union to respect ‘the equality of Member States before the Treaties as well as their national identities’ as stated in Article 4(2) TEU; whereas, therefore, the values set out in Article 2 TEU cannot be played off against the obligation under Article 4 TEU to respect national identity; whereas, on the contrary, the European core values listed in Article 2 TEU make up the basic framework within which Member States can preserve and develop their national identity;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas, therefore, not only the credibility of the Member States and of the EU on the international scene, but also the Union’s objectives in its external action, would be undermined if Member States were not able or willing to live up to the standards to which they have agreed and bound themselves by signing the Treaties;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q a (new)
Recital Q a (new)
Qa. whereas over the course of Hungary’s centuries-long history, the peaceful coexistence of nationalities and ethnic groups has enhanced the nation’s cultural richness and its prosperity; and whereas Hungary should be called upon to continue that tradition and take resolute steps to curb any attempts to discriminate against individual groups;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading I - Subheading 5
Heading I - Subheading 5
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AF
Recital AF
AF. whereas the adoption of a large number of cardinal laws in a very short time frame, including the acts on the legal status and remuneration of judges of Hungary and on the organisation and administration of courts of Hungary, as well as the acts on the freedom of religion and on the National Bank of Hungary, inevitably restricted the possibilities for an adequate consultation of the opposition parties and the civil society, including dialogue between management and labour and the machinery for consulting civil society organisations, trade unions, and interest groups;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AF a (new)
Recital AF a (new)
AFa. whereas the Act XXXVI of 2012 on the National Assembly has vested the Speaker of the Parliament with an extensive discretionary power to limit MPs' free expression in the Parliament;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AJ
Recital AJ
AJ. whereas the Fourth Amendment of the Fundamental Law further stipulates that the rulings of the Constitutional Court adopted before the entry into force of the Fundamental Law shall be repealed, and reintroducesby doing so explicitly contradicts to the Constitutional Court's Decision No 22/2012 in which the Court established that its statements made on the fundamental values, human rights and freedoms and on the constitutional institutions that have not been changed fundamentally by the Fundamental Law, remain valid; whereas the Fourth Amendment reintroduced into the Fundamental Law a number of provisions previously annulleddeclared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court8 ;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AU a (new)
Recital AU a (new)
AUa. whereas the governing majority in Parliament reformed the election system in a unilateral manner without striving for consensus with the opposition,
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BQ
Recital BQ
BQ. whereas the Fourth Amendment imposes press restrictions as it bans all political advertising during electoral campaigns except for advertising in the public media; and also imposes a broad and potentially vague prohibition on speech aimed at violating the dignity of groups, including the Hungarian nation, that may be used to arbitrarily interfere with freedom of expression and may have a chilling effect on journalists, and also on artists and others;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BS
Recital BS
BS. whereas the respect for the rights of persons belonging to minorities is explicitly recognised among the values referred to in Article 2 TEU and the Union is committed to promoting these values and combating social exclusion, racism, anti- Semitism and discrimination;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BS a (new)
Recital BS a (new)
BSa. whereas the right not to suffer discrimination is a fundamental right enshrined in Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BT
Recital BT
BT. whereas the responsibility of Member States to ensure that the fundamental rights of all are respected, irrespective of their ethnicity or belief, covers all levels of public administration as well as the law enforcement authorities and also implies actively promoting tolerance and firmly condemning phenomena such as racial violence and hate speech, anti-Semitic and anti-Roma hate speech, particularly when it is expressed in official or public forums including in the Hungarian parliament;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BW
Recital BW
BW. whereas, although intolerance against the members of Roma and Jewish communities is not a problem solely associated with Hungary and other Member States are faced with the same predicament, recent events have raised concerns as to the increase in anti-Roma and anti-Semitic discoursehate speech in Hungary;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BW a (new)
Recital BW a (new)
BWa. whereas the imposition of retroactive tax and pensions legislation has increased social vulnerability and poverty on a massive scale, a fact which is not only causing great uncertainty among the people, but also constitutes a violation of private ownership rights and is undermining fundamental civil liberties;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Regrets that, from the point of view of protecting European core values, the EU institutions have not always managed in the past to live up to their own standards; maintains, therefore, that it falls to them in particular to take a stand in order to safeguard European fundamental rights as referred to in Article 2 TEU, both at Union level and in Member States;
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Welcomes the fact that when the members of the two institutions met in Eger on 16 May 2013, the Presidents of the Hungarian and Romanian constitutional courts, Péter Paczolay and Augustin Zegrean, issued a joint statement stressing that constitutional courts bear a special responsibility in countries ruled by a two-thirds majority;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. ConsidersUnderstands that a democratic system that is founded on the rule of law does not necessarily need a constitutional court in order to function properly; recalls however the opinion No. CDL-AD (2011)016 of the Venice Commission stating that in states having opted for a constitutional court, this court should be entitled to assess the compliance of all laws with the human rights guaranteed in the constitution, and especially with human rights of such a particular importance: the right not to be discriminated and the right not to be unduly deprived of its possessions; considers therefore that the limitation of constitutional jurisdiction relating to the laws on the central budget and taxes is in contradiction with the requirements of democracy, the rule of law and the principle of judicial review, as it weakens the institutional and procedural guarantees for the protection of a number of constitutional rights and for controlling the parliament's and the government's powers in the budgetary field;
Amendment 262 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Expresses its disquiet at the infringements of the right to organise, as for instance in the case of teachers, who are admittedly allowed to form specialist trade unions, whereas the relevant powers-that-be are insisting that they will not negotiate with any professional association other than the ‘Hungarian Chamber of Teachers’:
Amendment 300 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Notes that the Hungarian Parliament has enacted legislation in criminal and civil areas to combat racial incitement and hate speech;, points out, however, that legislation on its own cannot achieve the goal of creating a society free from intolerance and discrimination throughout Europe, especially when it is not being actively implemented;
Amendment 304 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
45. Underlines that the authorities in all Member States have a positive obligation to act to avoid violation of the rights of persons belonging to minorities and, cannot remain neutral and should take the necessary legal, educational and political measures when faced with such violations;
Amendment 306 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45 b (new)
Paragraph 45 b (new)
45b. Regrets the fact that, with regard to homelessness, the social security system focuses primarily on declaring it illegal for homeless people to stay in public areas and laying down punishments for this, and calls for social inclusion measures.
Amendment 487 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61 – indent 20
Paragraph 61 – indent 20
– to take positive action and effective measures to ensure that the fundamental rights of all persons, including persons belonging to minorities, are respected;
Amendment 490 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61 – indent 20 a (new)
Paragraph 61 – indent 20 a (new)
- calls on the Hungarian Government to do all in its power to strengthen the mechanism for social dialogue and comprehensive consultation and to guarantee the rights associated with this.
Amendment 491 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61 – indent 20 b (new)
Paragraph 61 – indent 20 b (new)
- calls on the Hungarian Government to increase its efforts to integrate the Roma and to lay down targeted measures to ensure their protection. Racist threats directed at the Roma must be unequivocally and resolutely repelled.