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Events

2021/10/25
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2021/06/24
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2021/06/24
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 509 votes to 152, with 28 abstentions, a resolution on the Commission's 2020 Rule of Law Report.

Stressing the importance of establishing a European architecture for monitoring and enforcing the rule of law in the EU, Parliament welcomed the Commission's first annual rule of law report as a new tool for identifying risks in advance and of preventing violations of fundamental rights and the rule of law, instead of reacting ex post when such violations are repeated.

Rule of Law Report 2020: lessons for 2021

Members welcomed the fact that the functioning of the justice systems, the anti-corruption framework, media pluralism and some institutional issues related to checks and balances, including civic space to a certain extent, are all included in the Commission's annual review of the rule of law situation in Member States.

However, the Commission should devote greater efforts to deepening the country analyses with a view to better assessing the severity of rule of law challenges and to nuance its findings by differentiating between systemic rule of law violations and individual and isolated breaches. These assessments are necessary to formulate conclusions and determine follow-up actions and corrective measures and instruments that need to be put in place.

Members considered it necessary for future reports to be more analytical and to contain country-specific recommendations on how to address the problems identified or remedy violations, including deadlines for implementation, where appropriate, and benchmarks to be followed up on.

The Commission is invited to highlight positive trends in Member States which could serve as relevant examples for others to follow and to identify cases where certain measures which undermine the rule of law may have a negative impact on the Union as a whole.

Justice systems

Stressing that efficient and independent justice systems are essential for the preservation of the rule of law, Parliament expressed its concern about the stark deterioration of the independence of some Member States’ justice systems and by the increasing and blatant lack of compliance with EU law, including EU Court of Justice judgments. It deplored the political pressure in Hungary and Poland to prevent national courts from initiating preliminary ruling proceedings before the Court of Justice in order to prevent national judges from asking the Court of Justice questions in relation to EU requirements for judicial independence.

The Commission should ensure the application of the Treaties and secondary legislation, including in cases where risks of serious breaches of the values laid down in Article 2 TEU, as identified in the country chapters, have effectively materialised following the publication of the 2020 report.

Anti-corruption framework

Parliament called on the Member States and the EU institutions to devise effective tools to prevent, detect risk, stop and sanction cases of corruption and fraud, as well as mechanisms to recover the profits from those cases, in particular by regularly monitoring the use of both EU and national public funds. It expressed its concern about the potentially increasing risk of the Union’s budget being misused as a means to weaken the rule of law in some Member States.

The Commission is invited to update and strengthen the Union's anti-corruption legislation and to adopt a set of appropriate policies to combat judicial corruption in the Member States.

Freedom of expression: media freedom and pluralism, artistic and academic freedom

Parliament expressed concern about the increasing deterioration of media freedom and pluralism in some Member States since the publication of the 2020 report. It called on the Commission to assess the effectiveness of national frameworks for the protection of media freedom and pluralism and to include in the country chapters of future reports an overview of attacks on journalists across the EU. It called for this pillar of the annual report to be extended to all aspects of freedom of expression, including the fight against hate speech.

Other institutional issues linked to checks and balance

Parliament was alarmed by the use of COVID-19 emergency measures as a pretext to fast-track discriminatory legislation. It encouraged the Commission to ensure that the rights of EU citizens are respected, protected and upheld by the Member States during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Stressing the importance of a healthy civic space for the promotion and monitoring EU values, the resolution invited the Commission to deepen its assessment of the civic space in the 2021 report.

Institutional aspects

Members called on the Commission and the Council to respond to Parliament's request in its resolution of 7 October 2020 for a joint EU mechanism for democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights covering all the values enshrined in Article 2 TFEU.

It urged the Council and the Commission to enter into negotiations with Parliament without delay with a view to reaching an institutional agreement for the establishment of an objective and evidence-based monitoring mechanism, enshrined in a legal act, in which the three institutions would take part in a transparent and regular process aimed at protecting and promoting all the Union's values.

Documents
2021/06/24
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2021/06/23
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2021/06/09
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
Documents
2021/06/09
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Documents
2021/06/03
   EP - Vote in committee
2021/05/28
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2021/05/27
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2021/05/26
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2021/05/26
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2021/04/29
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2021/04/29
   EP - Referral to associated committees announced in Parliament
2021/04/26
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2021/04/12
   EP - PISAPIA Giuliano (S&D) appointed as rapporteur in AFCO
2021/03/26
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2021/03/24
   FR_SENATE - Contribution
Documents
2021/03/19
   EP - RUIZ DEVESA Domènec (S&D) appointed as rapporteur in LIBE
2021/03/18
   EP - KYUCHYUK Ilhan (Renew) appointed as rapporteur in JURI
2021/03/15
   EP - AUKEN Margrete (Verts/ALE) appointed as rapporteur in PETI
2021/03/03
   EP - GARCÍA MUÑOZ Isabel (S&D) appointed as rapporteur in CONT
2020/09/30
   EC - Non-legislative basic document
2020/09/30
   EC - Non-legislative basic document published

Documents

Activities

Votes

Rapport 2020 sur l’état de droit de la Commission - Commission’s 2020 Rule of law report - Bericht der Kommission über die Rechtsstaatlichkeit 2020 - A9-0199/2021 - Domènec Ruiz Devesa - Am 1 #

2021/06/24 Outcome: -: 542, +: 147, 0: 4
HU PL LV EE MT CY LU SI IT LT HR CZ SK FI BG EL SE AT IE DK BE NL PT RO FR ES DE
Total
21
52
8
7
5
6
6
8
73
11
12
21
14
14
17
19
19
19
13
14
21
29
21
32
78
59
94
icon: ID ID
69

Estonia ID

For (1)

1

Czechia ID

2

Finland ID

2
3

Denmark ID

Abstain (1)

1

Netherlands ID

1
icon: ECR ECR
63

Latvia ECR

For (1)

Abstain (1)

2

Lithuania ECR

1

Croatia ECR

For (1)

1

Slovakia ECR

Abstain (1)

1

Bulgaria ECR

2

Greece ECR

1

Romania ECR

1

Germany ECR

1
icon: NI NI
36

Lithuania NI

Against (1)

1

Croatia NI

Against (1)

Abstain (1)

2

Slovakia NI

2

Netherlands NI

1

Germany NI

2
icon: The Left The Left
39

Cyprus The Left

2

Czechia The Left

Against (1)

1

Finland The Left

Against (1)

1

Sweden The Left

Against (1)

1

Ireland The Left

4

Denmark The Left

Against (1)

1

Belgium The Left

Against (1)

1

Netherlands The Left

Against (1)

1

Portugal The Left

4
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
73

Poland Verts/ALE

Against (1)

1

Latvia Verts/ALE

Against (1)

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

Against (1)

1

Lithuania Verts/ALE

2

Czechia Verts/ALE

3

Finland Verts/ALE

3

Sweden Verts/ALE

3

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Denmark Verts/ALE

2

Belgium Verts/ALE

3

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3

Portugal Verts/ALE

Against (1)

1

Spain Verts/ALE

3
icon: Renew Renew
98

Hungary Renew

2

Latvia Renew

Against (1)

1

Estonia Renew

3

Luxembourg Renew

2

Slovenia Renew

2

Italy Renew

Against (2)

2

Lithuania Renew

Against (1)

1

Croatia Renew

Against (1)

1

Finland Renew

3

Bulgaria Renew

3

Sweden Renew

3

Austria Renew

Against (1)

1

Ireland Renew

2
icon: S&D S&D
143

Latvia S&D

2

Estonia S&D

2

Cyprus S&D

2

Luxembourg S&D

Against (1)

1

Slovenia S&D

Against (2)

2

Lithuania S&D

2

Czechia S&D

Against (1)

1

Slovakia S&D

3

Finland S&D

2

Greece S&D

2

Belgium S&D

3
icon: PPE PPE
172

Hungary PPE

1

Latvia PPE

For (1)

Against (1)

2

Estonia PPE

Against (1)

1

Malta PPE

2

Cyprus PPE

2

Luxembourg PPE

2

Slovenia PPE

4

Denmark PPE

Against (1)

1

Rapport 2020 sur l’état de droit de la Commission - Commission’s 2020 Rule of law report - Bericht der Kommission über die Rechtsstaatlichkeit 2020 - A9-0199/2021 - Domènec Ruiz Devesa - Proposition de résolution #

2021/06/24 Outcome: +: 509, -: 152, 0: 28
DE ES RO FR PT NL BG AT SE DK EL BE IE FI HR CZ IT SK LT LU MT LV SI EE CY PL HU
Total
93
58
31
77
21
28
17
19
19
14
20
21
13
14
12
21
73
14
11
6
5
8
8
7
6
52
21
icon: PPE PPE
172

Denmark PPE

For (1)

1

Luxembourg PPE

2

Malta PPE

2

Latvia PPE

2

Slovenia PPE

For (1)

4

Estonia PPE

For (1)

1
2

Hungary PPE

Against (1)

1
icon: S&D S&D
140

Greece S&D

2

Czechia S&D

For (1)

1

Slovakia S&D

Abstain (1)

3

Lithuania S&D

2

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1

Latvia S&D

2

Slovenia S&D

2

Estonia S&D

2

Cyprus S&D

2
icon: Renew Renew
97

Austria Renew

For (1)

1
3

Ireland Renew

2

Finland Renew

3

Croatia Renew

For (1)

1

Italy Renew

2

Lithuania Renew

1

Luxembourg Renew

2

Latvia Renew

For (1)

1

Slovenia Renew

2

Estonia Renew

3

Hungary Renew

2
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
71

Spain Verts/ALE

3

Portugal Verts/ALE

1

Netherlands Verts/ALE

2

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Sweden Verts/ALE

3

Denmark Verts/ALE

2

Belgium Verts/ALE

3

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Finland Verts/ALE

3

Czechia Verts/ALE

3

Lithuania Verts/ALE

2

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Poland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: The Left The Left
39

Portugal The Left

4

Netherlands The Left

For (1)

1

Sweden The Left

For (1)

1

Denmark The Left

1

Belgium The Left

Abstain (1)

1

Ireland The Left

Abstain (2)

4

Finland The Left

For (1)

1

Czechia The Left

Abstain (1)

1

Cyprus The Left

2
icon: NI NI
37

Germany NI

2

Netherlands NI

Against (1)

1

Croatia NI

Against (1)

2

Slovakia NI

2

Lithuania NI

Against (1)

1
icon: ECR ECR
63

Germany ECR

Against (1)

1

Romania ECR

Against (1)

1

Netherlands ECR

4

Bulgaria ECR

2
3

Greece ECR

Against (1)

1

Croatia ECR

Against (1)

1

Slovakia ECR

Abstain (1)

1

Lithuania ECR

Against (1)

1

Latvia ECR

Against (1)

Abstain (1)

2
icon: ID ID
70

Netherlands ID

Against (1)

1

Austria ID

3

Denmark ID

Abstain (1)

1

Finland ID

2

Czechia ID

Against (2)

2

Estonia ID

Against (1)

1
AmendmentsDossier
556 2021/2025(INI)
2021/04/20 JURI 120 amendments...
source: 691.348
2021/04/22 AFCO 63 amendments...
source: 691.335
2021/04/26 LIBE 311 amendments...
source: 691.450
2021/04/29 CONT 62 amendments...
source: 691.430

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

docs/9
date
2021-03-24T00:00:00
docs
url: https://connectfolx.europarl.europa.eu/connefof/app/exp/COM(2020)0580 title: COM(2020)0580
type
Contribution
body
FR_SENATE
docs/9
date
2021-03-25T00:00:00
docs
url: http://www.connefof.europarl.europa.eu/connefof/app/exp/COM(2020)0580 title: COM(2020)0580
type
Contribution
body
FR_SENATE
docs/8
date
2021-10-25T00:00:00
docs
url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=56743&j=0&l=en title: SP(2021)557
type
Commission response to text adopted in plenary
body
EC
docs/8
date
2021-06-24T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2021-0313_EN.html title: T9-0313/2021
type
Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
body
EP
events/6
date
2021-06-24T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2021-0313_EN.html title: T9-0313/2021
events/6
date
2021-06-24T00:00:00
type
Results of vote in Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=56743&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
events/7
date
2021-06-24T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2021-0313_EN.html title: T9-0313/2021
events/7/summary
  • The European Parliament adopted by 509 votes to 152, with 28 abstentions, a resolution on the Commission's 2020 Rule of Law Report.
  • Stressing the importance of establishing a European architecture for monitoring and enforcing the rule of law in the EU, Parliament welcomed the Commission's first annual rule of law report as a new tool for identifying risks in advance and of preventing violations of fundamental rights and the rule of law, instead of reacting ex post when such violations are repeated.
  • Rule of Law Report 2020: lessons for 2021
  • Members welcomed the fact that the functioning of the justice systems, the anti-corruption framework, media pluralism and some institutional issues related to checks and balances, including civic space to a certain extent, are all included in the Commission's annual review of the rule of law situation in Member States.
  • However, the Commission should devote greater efforts to deepening the country analyses with a view to better assessing the severity of rule of law challenges and to nuance its findings by differentiating between systemic rule of law violations and individual and isolated breaches. These assessments are necessary to formulate conclusions and determine follow-up actions and corrective measures and instruments that need to be put in place.
  • Members considered it necessary for future reports to be more analytical and to contain country-specific recommendations on how to address the problems identified or remedy violations, including deadlines for implementation, where appropriate, and benchmarks to be followed up on.
  • The Commission is invited to highlight positive trends in Member States which could serve as relevant examples for others to follow and to identify cases where certain measures which undermine the rule of law may have a negative impact on the Union as a whole.
  • Justice systems
  • Stressing that efficient and independent justice systems are essential for the preservation of the rule of law, Parliament expressed its concern about the stark deterioration of the independence of some Member States’ justice systems and by the increasing and blatant lack of compliance with EU law, including EU Court of Justice judgments. It deplored the political pressure in Hungary and Poland to prevent national courts from initiating preliminary ruling proceedings before the Court of Justice in order to prevent national judges from asking the Court of Justice questions in relation to EU requirements for judicial independence.
  • The Commission should ensure the application of the Treaties and secondary legislation, including in cases where risks of serious breaches of the values laid down in Article 2 TEU, as identified in the country chapters, have effectively materialised following the publication of the 2020 report.
  • Anti-corruption framework
  • Parliament called on the Member States and the EU institutions to devise effective tools to prevent, detect risk, stop and sanction cases of corruption and fraud, as well as mechanisms to recover the profits from those cases, in particular by regularly monitoring the use of both EU and national public funds. It expressed its concern about the potentially increasing risk of the Union’s budget being misused as a means to weaken the rule of law in some Member States.
  • The Commission is invited to update and strengthen the Union's anti-corruption legislation and to adopt a set of appropriate policies to combat judicial corruption in the Member States.
  • Freedom of expression: media freedom and pluralism, artistic and academic freedom
  • Parliament expressed concern about the increasing deterioration of media freedom and pluralism in some Member States since the publication of the 2020 report. It called on the Commission to assess the effectiveness of national frameworks for the protection of media freedom and pluralism and to include in the country chapters of future reports an overview of attacks on journalists across the EU. It called for this pillar of the annual report to be extended to all aspects of freedom of expression, including the fight against hate speech.
  • Other institutional issues linked to checks and balance
  • Parliament was alarmed by the use of COVID-19 emergency measures as a pretext to fast-track discriminatory legislation. It encouraged the Commission to ensure that the rights of EU citizens are respected, protected and upheld by the Member States during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
  • Stressing the importance of a healthy civic space for the promotion and monitoring EU values, the resolution invited the Commission to deepen its assessment of the civic space in the 2021 report.
  • Institutional aspects
  • Members called on the Commission and the Council to respond to Parliament's request in its resolution of 7 October 2020 for a joint EU mechanism for democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights covering all the values enshrined in Article 2 TFEU.
  • It urged the Council and the Commission to enter into negotiations with Parliament without delay with a view to reaching an institutional agreement for the establishment of an objective and evidence-based monitoring mechanism, enshrined in a legal act, in which the three institutions would take part in a transparent and regular process aimed at protecting and promoting all the Union's values.
docs/8
date
2021-06-24T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2021-0313_EN.html title: T9-0313/2021
type
Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
body
EP
events/5
date
2021-06-23T00:00:00
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Debate in Parliament
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EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CRE-9-2021-06-23-TOC_EN.html title: Debate in Parliament
events/6
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2021-06-24T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
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EP
docs
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events/7
date
2021-06-24T00:00:00
type
End of procedure in Parliament
body
EP
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  • date: 2021-06-24T00:00:00 title: Vote in plenary scheduled
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Awaiting Parliament's vote
New
Procedure completed
forecasts/0
date
2021-06-23T00:00:00
title
Debate in plenary scheduled
forecasts/0/title
Old
Indicative plenary sitting date
New
Debate in plenary scheduled
forecasts/1
date
2021-06-24T00:00:00
title
Vote in plenary scheduled
docs/7
date
2021-06-09T00:00:00
docs
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type
Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
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EP
events/4/docs
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date
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type
Committee report tabled for plenary
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Awaiting committee decision
New
Awaiting Parliament's vote
events/3
date
2021-06-03T00:00:00
type
Vote in committee
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docs/3/docs/0/url
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CONT-AD-691220_EN.html
docs/4/docs/0/url
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/AFCO-AD-691278_EN.html
docs/6/docs/0/url
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/JURI-AD-691166_EN.html
docs/5/docs/0/url
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/PETI-AD-689805_EN.html
docs/6
date
2021-05-28T00:00:00
docs
title: PE691.166
committee
JURI
type
Committee opinion
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EP
docs/3
date
2021-05-26T00:00:00
docs
title: PE691.220
committee
CONT
type
Committee opinion
body
EP
docs/5
date
2021-05-27T00:00:00
docs
title: PE689.805
committee
PETI
type
Committee opinion
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EP
docs/3
date
2021-05-26T00:00:00
docs
title: PE691.278
committee
AFCO
type
Committee opinion
body
EP
committees/0/shadows/2
name
BAY Nicolas
group
Identity and Democracy
abbr
ID
forecasts
  • date: 2021-06-23T00:00:00 title: Indicative plenary sitting date
events/1
date
2021-04-29T00:00:00
type
Committee referral announced in Parliament
body
EP
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2021-04-29T00:00:00
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Referral to associated committees announced in Parliament
body
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procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
  • LIBE/9/05600
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Preparatory phase in Parliament
New
Awaiting committee decision