Activities of Marie-Christine VERGIAT related to 2012/2130(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the situation of fundamental rights: standards and practices in Hungary (pursuant to the European Parliament resolution of 16 February 2012) PDF (352 KB) DOC (221 KB)
Amendments (32)
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 35
Citation 35
– having regard to the statements by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) of 15 February 2012 and of 11 December 2012 calling on Hungary, respectively, to reconsider legislation criminalizingallowing local authorities to punish homelessness and to uphold the Constitutional Court’s decision decriminalising homelessness,
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the common values enshrined in Article 2 TEU constitute the core of the rights attached to the status ofenjoyed by persons living within the EU and especially by EU citizens, irrespective of their nationality or cultural and political identitieand no matter where they might consider themselves to belong in cultural or religious terms, and whereas citizesuch persons can fully enjoy those rights only if the EU’s fundamental values and principles are upheld;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas Article 6(3) TEU underscores that fundamental rights, as guaranteed by the ECHR and as arising from the constitutional traditions common to the Member States, constitute general principles of Union law, and whereas such rights are a common heritage and assetstrength of democratic European states;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas Article 7(1) TEU grants the EU institutions the power to assess whether there is a clear risk of a serious breach of the common values referred to in Article 2 by a Member State, and to engage politically with the country concerned in order to prevent and redress violations, while the ultimate purpose ofbut the means laid down in Article 7(2) and (3) TEU isare unsuitable and have proven ineffective, given the impossibility of employing them to penalise and remedy any serious and persistent breach of common values;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas, in the framework of the Treaties, respect for ‘national identities’ (Article 4(2)TEU) and for ‘different legal systems and traditions of the Member States’ (Article 67 TFEU) are intrinsically associated with the principles of sincere cooperation (Article 4(3) TEU), mutual recognition (Articles 81 and 82 TFEU) and thus mutual trust, as well as with respect for cultural and linguistic diversity (Article 3(3) TEU);
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas a departure from, or a violation of, the Union’s common principles and values by a Member State cannot be justified by national traditions nor by the expression of a national identity when such departurea violation results in the deterioration of the principles which are at the heart of the European integration, such as democratic values, the rule of law, or the principle of mutual recognition, with the consequence that a referral to Article 4(2) TEU is applicable only so far as a Member State respects the values enshrined in Article 2 TEU;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas respect by the Member States for the same set of fundamental values is an indispensable condition for ensuring mutual trust and consequently the correct functioning of mutual recognition, which is at the heart of the creation and development of the internal market as well as of the European area of freedom, security and justice, and whereas, therefore, any attempt to disrespect or weaken the common values adversely affects the whole construction of thea European process of economdemocratic, social and politicaleconomic integration based on solidarity;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital S
Recital S
S. whereas following the 2010 general elections in Hungary the governing majority gained more than two thirds of the seats in parliament, enabling it to rapidly initiate intense legislative activity to reshape the whole constitutional order of the country (the Constitution has been amended twelve times and the Fundamental Law four times so far) and thus substantially modify the institutional and legal framework as well as a number of fundamental aspects of public life;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital T
Recital T
T. whereas any Member State of the European Union is absolutely free to review its constitution and whereas the very meaning of democratic alternation is that it enables a new government to enact legislation reflecting its values and political commitments, provided that, in so doing, it does not breach the values and principles of democracy and the rule of law prevailing in Europe;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital X a (new)
Recital X a (new)
Xa. whereas the draft constitutional text submitted to the Hungarian Parliament on 14 March 2011 was the one produced by the elected representatives of the Fidesz-KDNP coalition and not the working document based on the discussions within the ad hoc parliamentary committee, even though that committee had been set up expressly for the purpose of drafting the new Fundamental Law; whereas this situation exacerbated the failure to consult the opposition;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Y
Recital Y
Y. whereas the ‘national consultation’ on the draft Fundamental Law only, in which constitutional reform was presented to citizens from the outset as a necessity admitting of no other choice, consisted of a list of twelve questions on very specific issues drafted by the governing party in a way; and whereas thate could have led to self- evident replies and which, above all,nsultation did not include the text of the draft Fundamental Law so that the public was not in a position to submit its views thereonvoters could not possibly have obtained or read the text and therefore could not have been in any real position to decide;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BL a (new)
Recital BL a (new)
BLa. whereas, despite the fact that the laws were amended in 2011 following negotiations with the European Commission and in May 2012 further to the decision of the Constitutional Court of December 2011, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media has deplored that several amendments were introduced and adopted at short notice without consulting stakeholders and that fundamental elements in the legislation have not been improved, notably the appointment of the president and members of the Media Authority and Media Council, their power over content in the broadcast media, the imposition of high fines and the lack of safeguards on the financial and editorial independence of public broadcasters;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital BO
Recital BO
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls that respect for legality, including a transparent, accountable and democratic process of enacting laws and adopting a Fundamental Law, and for a strong system of representative democracy based on free elections and respecting the rights of the opposition are key elements of the concepts of democracy and the rule of law as enshrined in Article 2 TEU and proclaimed in the Preambles to both the Treaty on the European Union and the Charter;
Amendment 289 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Deplores that the creation of the state- owned Hungarian News Agency (MTI) has been declared to be the single news provider for public service broadcasters, while all major private broadcasters are expected to have their own news service, has meant it has a virtual monopoly on the market, as most of its news items are freely available; recallsand recalls in this connection the recommendation of the Council of Europe to eliminate the obligation on public broadcasters to use the national news agency as it constitutes an unreasonable and unfair restriction on the plurality of news provision;
Amendment 293 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
Paragraph 41
41. Stresses that measures to regulate the access of media outlets to the market through broadcast licensing and authorising procedures, and through rules on the protection of state, national or military security and public order and rules on public morality should not be abused for purposesshould be strictly circumscribed to prevent abuse and the risk of imposing political or partisan control or censorship on the media, and underlines that a proper balance needs to be ensured in this respect; by the same token condemns the enactment of rules on public morality and takes the view that freedom of expression can only be assured by ethical charters or codes of behaviour;
Amendment 295 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42
Paragraph 42
42. Is concerned that public service broadcasting is controlled by an extremely centralised institutional system which takes the real operational decisions without public scrutiny; underlines that biased and opaque tendering practices and the biased information of the public service broadcasting reaching a wide audience distort the media market, and highlights in this context the case of Klub Rádió, which the Media Council decided in December 2011 to deprive of its licence to broadcast in Budapest, following an application procedure which seemed designed to ensure that it would lose its licence;
Amendment 323 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48
Paragraph 48
48. Reaffirms that its present resolution is not only about Hungary, but inseparably about the European Union as a whole, andnd all its dMemocratic reber States, its construction and development after the fall of the 20th century totalitarianisms. It is about the European family,during the 20th century, particularly after the fall of the totalitarian regimes, and about its future; it is about its common values and standards, its inclusiveness and its capacity to engage in dialogue. It is about, the need to implement Treaties which all Member States have voluntarily acceded to. It is about, the mutual help and mutual trust that the Union, its citizens and Member States and citizens need to have if these Treaties are to be more than just words on paper but the legal basis for a true, just and open Europe respectand to form a legal basis enabling fundamental rights to be respected;
Amendment 325 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49
Paragraph 49
49. Shares the idea of a Union which is not only a ‘union of democracies’ but also a ‘UnDemocratic Union’, with a shared foundation of Ddemocracy’, basedtic principles, based in particular upon pluralistic societies where respect for human rights and the rule of law prevail;
Amendment 328 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50
Paragraph 50
50. Reaffirms that, while in times of economic and social crisis one may yield to the temptation to disregard constitutional principles, the credibility and robustness of constitutional institutions play a pivotal role in underpinnpholding economic, fiscal and social policies and social cohesion and avoiding a retreat into cultural isolationism;
Amendment 337 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52
Paragraph 52
52. Calls on the Member States to comply with their Treaty obligations to respect, guarantee, protect and promote the Union’s common values, which is an indispensable condition for respecting democracy and thus the substance of Union citizenship and for building a culture of mutual trust enabling effective cross-border cooperation and a well functioning EUgenuine area of freedom, security and justice;
Amendment 338 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53
Paragraph 53
53. Considers that it is the moral and legal duty of all Members States, as well as of the Union institutions, to defend the European values as enshrined in the Treaties, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights to which every Member State is a signatory and to which the EU will soon accede;
Amendment 344 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 56
Paragraph 56
56. Reminds the European Council of its responsibilities within the framework of the area of freedom, liberty, security and justice;Does not affect English version (linguistic amendment to French)
Amendment 365 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 60 – indent 7
Paragraph 60 – indent 7
Amendment 378 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 60 a (new)
Paragraph 60 a (new)
60a. Deplores the Commission’s agenda as reflected in its announcement on 3 May 2013 that the infringement proceedings against Hungary for excessive deficit may be dropped, and calls on the Commission to give more consideration to the positions and work of the European Parliament before taking or announcing economic decisions in respect of a Member State, to ensure that all the European Union’s institutions maintain a coherent approach to the Union's values as a whole;
Amendment 379 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 60 b (new)
Paragraph 60 b (new)
60b. Reminds the Commission that the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and the European Union’s forthcoming accession to the European Convention on Human Rights, reaffirm a new architecture for European Union law, a structure with human rights more than ever at its heart, thus conferring on the Commission, as guardian of the Treaties, greater responsibilities in this area;
Amendment 386 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61 – introductory part
Paragraph 61 – introductory part
61. Urges the Hungarian authorities to implement the following recommendations without any further delay, with a view to fully restoring the rule of law and its key requirements on the constitutional setting, the system of checks and balances and the independence of the judiciary, as well as strong safeguards for fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, media and religion, protection of minorities and action to combat discrimination, and the right to property:
Amendment 489 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61 – indent 20
Paragraph 61 – indent 20
– to take positive action to ensure that the fundamental rights of all persons, including persons belonging to minorities, are respected, and take the necessary action to ensure that the measures adopted are implemented by all public authorities;
Amendment 539 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 76
Paragraph 76
76. Invites the Commission and the Council to each designate a representative who, together with the Parliament’s rapporteur and shadow rapporteurs (‘Article 2 Trilogue’), will carry out an assessment of the information sent by the Hungarian authorities on the implementation of the recommendations contained in paragraph 61;
Amendment 548 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 77
Paragraph 77
77. Asks the Conference of Presidents to activate the mechanism laid down in Article 7(1) TEU in case the replies from the Hungarian authorities todo not comply with the above- mentioned recommendations do not comply with the requirements of Article 2 TEU;