11 Amendments of Loránt VINCZE related to 2020/2072(INL)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Recalls that the EU architecture on the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights has been in continuous development ever since the creation of the European Community (EC) and that after its introduced in the EC by the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice, it was progressively anchored and strengthened in the Single European Act, the Maastricht Treaty, the Amsterdam Treaty, the Treaty of Nice and the Treaty of Lisbon and that at present respect for the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights are recognized as the founding values of the Union; whereas this process must be further advanced;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1 a. Recalls that the EU has codified in its accession criteria that EU membership requires that candidate country has achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of minorities; points out however that the EU lacks effective tools to enforce these criteria once a country has become part of the EU;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Recalls that while in the EU legal framework the rule of law is explicitly mentioned as a value which is common to the EU and its Member States (Article 2 TEU), the EU Treaties do not provide a definition of the notion; points out that the rule of law is a complex and in many aspects vague concept and therefore the setup of the Annual Monitoring Cycle would require a consensus on the principles of the rule of law common to all Member States; considers that the strict minimum of the meaning of the rule of law is a system where laws are applied and enforced and that in the definition of the concept the Commission should use a broad definition, drawing on principles set out in the case law of the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights as well as the principles expressed by the Venice Commission;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Stresses that the rule of law is intrinsically linked to respect for democracy and for fundamental rights and that therefore the three principles must be jointly monitored;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Points out that in the case of Romania and Bulgaria a Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) was set up when they joined the EU on 1January 2007 as a transitional measure to assist the two countries to remedy shortcomings in the fields of judicial reform, corruption and organised crime and that 13 years after their accession the mechanism is still applied in case of both counties; considers that the Annual Monitoring Cycle, which would apply equally to all member States of the European Union should replace the CVM; considers that the benchmarks set up by the European Commission for assessing progress within the CVM could be used within the framework of the Annual Monitoring Cycle;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the Union has codified in its accession criteria that Union membership requires that a candidate country has achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of minorities; points out however that the Union lacks effective tools to enforce these criteria once a country has become part of the Union;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas while the respect for the rights of minorities is a part of the set of political criteria an accession-candidate country must fulfil at the time of accession, no such benchmarks apply for states that are already members of the Union; whereas the absence of such benchmarks encourages backtracking by Member States;
Amendment 93 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. HighlightConsiders that the Conference on the Future of Europe could provides a momentum for better understan the opportunity to discuss embedding in the need to protect Union values in this context; thereforeTreaties a more effective enforcement of Union values and that, in the event of Treaty changes being made in the future, the effectiveness of the Article 7 procedure should be enhanced by removing the requirement for unanimity and reinforcing the sanction mechanism;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. points out that the Mechanism should consolidate and supersede existing instruments, in particular the Annual Rule of Law Report, the Commission’s Rule of Law Framework, the Council’s Rule of Law Dialogue and the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM), while increasing complementarity and coherence with other available tools, including infringement procedures under Article 7 TEU, budgetary conditionality once in force, and the European Semester; is of the opinion that the Annual Monitoring Cycle can fulfil the objectives of the CVM for Bulgaria and Romania, thus contributing to equal treatment of all Member States; considers that the benchmarks set up by the Commission for assessing progress within the CVM could be used within the framework of the Annual Monitoring Cycle; considers that the three institutions should use the findings from the Annual Monitoring Cycle in their assessment for the purposes of triggering Article 7 TEU and Regulation (EU) 2020/xxxx of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of the Union's budget in case of generalised deficiencies as regards the rule of law in the Member States11 ; _________________ 11[instead of xxxx insert final number of 2018/136(COD) in the text and correct OJ reference in footnote] OJ C ..., ....., p. ....;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Recalls that respecting the rights of minorities is an integral and essential part of the values of the Union as set out in Article 2 TEU; reminds that by respecting the rights of minorities the Union also protects its cultural and linguistic diversity and safeguards its cultural heritage, as foreseen in Article 3 TEU; stresses therefore that the protection of minorities must form an essential part of the Annual Monitoring Cycle;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – part 2 – point 6
Annex I – part 2 – point 6
6. The Commission shall draw on all information at its disposal when preparing the Annual Report. Of particular relevance in that regard are reports and data from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the Council of Europe, including the Venice Commission and, the Group of States against Corruption, the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, and other international organisations that produce relevant studies.