Activities of Loránt VINCZE related to 2021/2025(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the Commission’s 2020 Rule of law report - COM(2020)0580
Amendments (15)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. UEmphasizes the responsibility of the PETI committee in identifying and alerting to possible breaches of the rule of law; strongly believes that fundamental rights can be effectively guaranteed only if rule of law prevails; underlines the high number of petitions received from citizens concerned about the alleged breaches of the rule of law in their respective countries and with the consequences of such breaches on their lives, notably affecting legal certainty; stresses that full protection of Union citizens’ rights can be ensured throughout the Union only if all Member States comply with all the principles underlying the rule of law, as; is of the opinion, that deficiencies in one Member State could have an impact on other Member States and the Union as a whole;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 15
Citation 15
— having regard to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the European Social Charter, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Committee of Social Rights, the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) and the conventions, recommendations, resolutions, opinions and reports of the Parliamentary Assembly, the Committee of Ministers, the Human Rights Commissioner, the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance, the Steering Committee on Anti- Discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion, the Venice Commission, the Advisory Committee on the FCNM, the Committee of Experts of the ECRML and other bodies of the Council of Europe,
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that, despite repeated requests by Parliament and some Member States, the Commission’s 2020 Rule of Law Report fails to encompass thesignificant areas of democracy and fundamental rights; calls on the Commission to ensure equal treatment of all the Union’s founding values in its next report; believes that the Commission must also involve independent expert, including the rights of national and linguistic minorities; stresses the need for improvement concerning the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, as the expectations of Europeans go beyond the actual scope of the Charter; calls on the Commission to ensure equal treatment of all the Union’s founding values as enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union in its next report; believes that the Commission must consult as many stakeholders as possible, particularly legal practitioners and fundamental rights experts, from the Member States and European organisations in this annual exercise in order to guarantee full credibility, and also provide clear indications on follow-up actions for any shortcomings detected;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Reminds that, the main aim of the rule of law mechanism exercise should remain to encourage and support Member States to strengthen their rule of law culture, based on constructive dialogue, mutual trust, and sharing of best practices between the EU institutions and the Member States;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Criticises the failure ofReminds the Council to make progress by applying sanctions in the ongoing procedures under Article 7 of the TEU, confirmunderlying that the Union remains structurally badly equipped to counteris one of the places in the world with the highest rule of law violationstandards; highlights that, in any case, a full and effective use of all tools available at Union level, such as infringement procedures, the procedures enshrined in the Common Provisions Regulation and Conditionality Regulation1 , the Rule of Law Framework and Article 7 of the TEU, must be made to address breaches of the rule of law; underlines citizens’ high expectations expressed in petitions asking for a proper and rapid Union level response to put an end to such violations; _________________ 1 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.
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Calls on the Commission to develop a comprehensive rule of law methodology, which sets transparent and clear rules for assessment and ensures equal treatment of all Member States; reminds the Commission at its role as guardian of the Treaties to ensure the respect of EU law in an objective manner, while taking into account the concerns of all Europeans;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Regrets that the report fails to fully address all Union values set out in Article 2 of the TEU, such as democracy and fundamental rights, including the rights of minorities; reiterates the need to have a single monitoring system for democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights, as proposed by Parliament1 ; calls on the Council and the Commission to engage in discussions to set up such a mechanism via an interinstitutional agreement; _________________ 1European Parliament resolution of 7 October 2020 on the establishment of an EU Mechanism on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights (texts adopted, P9_TA(2020)0251).
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas respect for the rights of minorities is a part of the political criteria an accession-candidate country must fulfil at the time of accession; whereas while the Union has an important role in ensuring respect for the rights of national and linguistic minorities in candidate- countries, it so far hasn't yet adopted any benchmarks for its Member States in this area, thus making possible that Member States backtrack on their commitments; whereas the 2020 report, too, misses to cover the rights of national and linguistic minorities;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
C b. whereas the European Parliament has already called on the European Commission to adopt a common framework of Union minimum standards for the protection of rights of persons belonging to minorities, which are strongly embedded in a legal framework guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights throughout the Union1a; _________________ 1aEuropean Parliament Resolution of 13 November 2018 on minimum standards for minorities in the EU (OJ C 363, 28.10.2020, p. 13)
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Points out that the role of the rule of law monitoring mechanism in Member States should be to secure high rule of law standards based on objective standards and an approach based on impartiality and mutual respect and to remedy identified deficiencies based on a close dialogue and support provided by the Commission;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Underlines that the Court of Justice of the European Union recently rulconfirmed2 that civil society organisations must be able to operate without unjustified interference by the state, acknowledging that the right to freedom of association constitutes one of the essential bases of a democratic and pluralist society; is seriously concerned that some NGOs active in the area of migration and LGBTI+ rights are subject to smear campaigns, and face severmay face restriction of the civic space where they can operate. _________________ 2Judgment of 18 June 2020, Commission v Hungary, C-78/18, EU:C:2020:476, paragraphs 112 and 113.
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Highlights that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a deleterious impact on fundamental rights as well as on constitutional checks and balancesforced national authorities to take previously unforeseen but necessary restrictions on the fundamental rights of citizens for the public good; insists that any measures restricting the rights and freedoms of EU citizens should be limited to what is necessary, transparent, proportional and temporary; calls on the Commission to further analyse measures taken in response to the COVID- 19 pandemic in its 2021 report.
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Decries the fact that the initiation of preliminary ruling proceedings before the Court of Justice of the EU has been declared unlawful in Member Snot applicable; tatkes subject to Article 7 of the TEU; is appalled by the growing resistance of some Member States to comply with CJEU rulings on the grounds of sovereignty or unconstitutionality; believes that these developments pose a systemicnote that some courts in some Member States have reservations to CJEU rulings; reminds that the competence conflict between EU law and constitutional reservations was never solved in the threat to the Union; considers, therefore,ies; is of the view that forthcoming annual reports should consider those challenges to the Union’s legal architecture and principles as serious violations in the assessment;
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Calls on the Commission to include in its next reports detailed analyses and recommendations on the situation of the rights of autochthonous national and linguistic minorities, including through the involvement of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights; stresses that this is an area where it should establish strong links and synergies with the Council of Europe, and in particular with its 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;
Amendment 303 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29