BETA


Events

2022/10/20
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2022/05/19
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2022/05/19
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 429 votes to 131, with 34 abstentions, a resolution on the Commission's 2021 Rule of Law Report.

While welcoming the Commission's second annual report on the rule of law, Parliament deplored the fact that the Commission had not fully followed up on Parliament’s recommendations in its resolution of 24 June 2021 on the Commission's 2020 rule of law report. It called for the inclusion in the annual report of other important elements of the Venice Commission’s 2016 Rule of Law Checklist, such as the prevention of abuse of powers, equality before the law and non-discrimination and access to justice including aspects of the right to a fair trial.

The Commission is invited to elaborate its indicators used when assessing the rule of law situation in the Member States and to differentiate reporting by distinguishing between systemic and deliberate breaches of the rule of law and isolated breaches in a clearer and more comprehensible way.

Parliament regretted that the report failed to clearly recognise the deliberate process of the rule of law backsliding in countries subject to ongoing Article 7(1) TEU procedures , notably Poland and Hungary, and to identify rule of law deficiencies in a number of Member States. It also regretted that several Member States, in particular Hungary and Poland, were repeatedly mentioned as areas of concern in the Commission's synthesis report and that no tangible improvements have been recorded since the report was published.

The Commission is invited to: (i) conclude each country chapter with an assessment of Member States' performance vis-à-vis the individual pillars of the report, indicating the extent to which the conditions of the rule of law conditionality regulation have been met; (ii) include an assessment of all rule of law measures implemented in the previous year, together with an analysis of their effectiveness and possible avenues for improvement; (iii) accompany the country-specific recommendations included in the 2022 report with deadlines for implementation, targets and concrete actions to be taken.

Judicial systems

Parliament stressed that Member States must fully comply with EU and international law as regards the independence of the judiciary . It called on the Commission to include concrete recommendations on this issue in its 2022 report. Recalling that EU law has primacy over national law regardless of how national judicial systems are organised, Members called on the Commission to (i) closely monitor national court decisions on the primacy of EU law over national laws and (ii) provide a concrete response to refusals to implement and respect CJEU rulings and report back to Parliament on actions taken in this regard.

Anti-corruption framework

Deeply concerned about the increasing level of corruption and deterioration in some Member States, Members called on the Commission to update and enhance the EU's anti-corruption policy and instruments, including a uniform definition of the crime of corruption and the definition of common standards and benchmarks, as well as ensuring their proper implementation and enforcement.

Freedom of expression and information, media freedom and pluralism

Parliament recalled that journalists and media are increasingly subject to intimidation, threats (including on social networks), criminal prosecution, physical attacks, violent incidents and killings in some Member States. It condemned the oppressive strategies used by governments in some Member States, such as SLAPPs or smear campaigns, as well as the increasing state control over public media, civil society and academic institutions.

Members regretted that the 2021 report does not reflect the gravity of these trends. They called on the Commission to improve the media-related chapters, to adopt EU legislation to combat the use of SLAPPs by setting minimum standards and to present an ambitious legal framework to counter the increasing politicisation of the media in some Member States in the upcoming Media Freedom Act.

Noting that false information and misinformation of European citizens threaten democracy and the rule of law in the EU, Members believe that much remains to be done in European media legislation to create a level playing field in view of the digital transformation of the media sector and the widespread use of online platforms.

Democracy and balance of powers

Parliament defended the position that the principle of the separation of powers is essential for the proper functioning of the state. It called on the Commission and Member States to take all necessary measures whenever a risk of election manipulation by state, foreign or private actors is identified in an EU Member State. It stressed that the illegal use of Pegasus and equivalent spyware by Member States against journalists, lawyers, opposition politicians and others poses a direct threat to democracy, the rule of law and human rights. It asked the Commission to assess the misuse of surveillance tools and its impact on democratic processes in the Union.

Fundamental rights and equality

Underlining its concern that women and vulnerable people continue to see some of their rights violated in the EU, Parliament recalled that in some circumstances Member States deliberately resort to measures that are questionable from the point of view of the rule of law, so as to legitimise discriminatory policies that could not otherwise be legislated for, such as provisions specifically targeting LGBTIQ people or the imposition of a near-total ban on abortion. It reiterated its call on the Commission to include in the scope of future reports a thorough assessment of the persistent violations of fundamental rights across the Union, including equality and the rights of persons belonging to minorities.

Mechanism for democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights

Parliament regretted the reluctance of the Commission and the Council to respond positively to Parliament’s call, in its resolution of 7 October 2020, for a joint EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights, which should cover the full scope of Article 2 TEU values. It reiterated its call on the Commission and the Council to immediately enter into negotiations with Parliament on an interinstitutional agreement.

It also recalled the importance of the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation where breaches of the principles of the rule of law affect or seriously risk affecting the sound financial management of the Union budget.

Lastly, Parliament called on the Commission to further strengthen the regular, inclusive and structured dialogue with national governments and parliaments, NGOs and other stakeholders, and to be more transparent about the criteria used to select the information from these stakeholders to be included in its annual reports.

Documents
2022/05/18
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2022/05/02
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
Documents
2022/05/02
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Documents
2022/04/20
   EP - Vote in committee
2022/03/21
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2022/03/18
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2022/03/17
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2022/03/15
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2022/03/01
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2022/03/01
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2022/01/21
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2021/12/09
   EP - BENJUMEA BENJUMEA Isabel (EPP) appointed as rapporteur in PETI
2021/10/25
   EP - SARVAMAA Petri (EPP) appointed as rapporteur in CONT
2021/10/21
   EP - ROBERTI Franco (S&D) appointed as rapporteur in JURI
2021/10/18
   EP - IN 'T VELD Sophia (Renew) appointed as rapporteur in AFCO
2021/10/11
   EP - REINTKE Terry (Verts/ALE) appointed as rapporteur in LIBE
2021/10/07
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2021/10/07
   EP - Referral to associated committees announced in Parliament
2021/10/01
   EP - GARDIAZABAL RUBIAL Eider (S&D) appointed as rapporteur in BUDG

Documents

Activities

Votes

Rapport 2021 de la Commission sur l’état de droit - Commission’s 2021 Rule of Law Report - Bericht der Kommission über die Rechtsstaatlichkeit 2021 - A9-0139/2022 - Terry Reintke - Proposition de résolution de remplacement - Am 1 #

2022/05/19 Outcome: -: 462, +: 120, 0: 14
PL HU ?? MT EE CY FI LV SI LU IT HR LT SK DK BG EL CZ AT IE BE SE NL PT RO FR ES DE
Total
48
18
1
3
7
5
8
7
6
6
70
11
9
13
11
15
15
19
16
12
19
20
28
19
25
63
50
72
icon: ID ID
56

Estonia ID

For (1)

1

Finland ID

1

Denmark ID

For (1)

1

Czechia ID

2

Austria ID

2

Netherlands ID

1
icon: ECR ECR
55

Latvia ECR

Abstain (1)

1

Croatia ECR

1

Slovakia ECR

Abstain (1)

1

Bulgaria ECR

Abstain (1)

2

Greece ECR

1

Belgium ECR

2

Netherlands ECR

Abstain (1)

4

Romania ECR

1
icon: NI NI
35

Latvia NI

Against (1)

1

Croatia NI

2

Lithuania NI

Abstain (1)

1

Slovakia NI

2

France NI

For (1)

1
3
icon: The Left The Left
32

Cyprus The Left

2

Finland The Left

Against (1)

1

Denmark The Left

Against (1)

1

Czechia The Left

Against (1)

1

Ireland The Left

3

Belgium The Left

Against (1)

1

Sweden The Left

Against (1)

1

Netherlands The Left

Against (1)

1

Germany The Left

2
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
62

Poland Verts/ALE

Against (1)

1

Finland Verts/ALE

2

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

Against (1)

1

Lithuania Verts/ALE

Against (1)

Abstain (1)

2

Denmark Verts/ALE

1

Czechia Verts/ALE

3

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Belgium Verts/ALE

3

Sweden Verts/ALE

3

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3

Portugal Verts/ALE

Against (1)

1

Spain Verts/ALE

3
icon: Renew Renew
93

Poland Renew

1

Hungary Renew

2

Renew

1

Estonia Renew

3

Finland Renew

3

Latvia Renew

Against (1)

1

Slovenia Renew

Against (1)

1

Luxembourg Renew

2

Italy Renew

3

Croatia Renew

Against (1)

1

Lithuania Renew

Against (1)

1

Bulgaria Renew

2

Greece Renew

Against (1)

1

Austria Renew

Against (1)

1

Ireland Renew

2

Belgium Renew

3

Sweden Renew

3
icon: S&D S&D
120

Estonia S&D

2

Cyprus S&D

Against (1)

1

Latvia S&D

2

Slovenia S&D

Against (1)

1

Luxembourg S&D

Against (1)

1

Lithuania S&D

Against (1)

1

Slovakia S&D

2

Denmark S&D

2

Czechia S&D

Against (1)

1

Belgium S&D

3
icon: PPE PPE
143

Hungary PPE

Abstain (1)

1

Estonia PPE

Against (1)

1

Cyprus PPE

2

Finland PPE

Against (1)

1

Latvia PPE

2

Slovenia PPE

4

Luxembourg PPE

2

Denmark PPE

Against (1)

1

A9-0139/2022 - Terry Reintke - Proposition de résolution (ensemble du texte) #

2022/05/19 Outcome: +: 429, -: 131, 0: 34
DE ES FR NL RO PT SE IT IE AT BG BE DK EL SK LU FI LV CY HR LT EE CZ MT SI ?? HU PL
Total
75
50
63
27
25
19
20
68
13
16
15
19
11
16
13
6
8
8
5
11
8
6
19
3
6
1
18
45
icon: S&D S&D
117

Denmark S&D

2

Slovakia S&D

2

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1

Latvia S&D

2

Cyprus S&D

1

Lithuania S&D

For (1)

1

Estonia S&D

2

Czechia S&D

For (1)

1

Slovenia S&D

For (1)

1
icon: PPE PPE
144

Denmark PPE

For (1)

1

Slovakia PPE

Abstain (1)

4

Luxembourg PPE

2

Finland PPE

For (1)

1

Latvia PPE

2
2

Croatia PPE

Abstain (1)

4

Estonia PPE

For (1)

1

Slovenia PPE

Against (2)

4

Hungary PPE

Against (1)

1
icon: Renew Renew
92
3

Italy Renew

3

Ireland Renew

2

Austria Renew

For (1)

1

Bulgaria Renew

2

Greece Renew

1

Luxembourg Renew

2

Finland Renew

3

Latvia Renew

For (1)

1

Croatia Renew

For (1)

1

Lithuania Renew

1

Estonia Renew

2
5

Slovenia Renew

For (1)

1

Renew

1

Hungary Renew

2

Poland Renew

1
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
62

Spain Verts/ALE

3

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3

Portugal Verts/ALE

1

Sweden Verts/ALE

3

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Belgium Verts/ALE

3

Denmark Verts/ALE

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Finland Verts/ALE

2

Lithuania Verts/ALE

Abstain (1)

1

Czechia Verts/ALE

3

Poland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: The Left The Left
33

Germany The Left

2

Netherlands The Left

For (1)

1

Portugal The Left

4

Sweden The Left

For (1)

1

Belgium The Left

For (1)

1

Denmark The Left

1

Finland The Left

For (1)

1

Cyprus The Left

2

Czechia The Left

Abstain (1)

1
icon: NI NI
35

Germany NI

Against (1)

3

France NI

Against (1)

1

Slovakia NI

2

Latvia NI

1

Croatia NI

Against (1)

Abstain (1)

2

Lithuania NI

Against (1)

1
icon: ECR ECR
56

Netherlands ECR

3

Romania ECR

Against (1)

1

Sweden ECR

Abstain (1)

3

Bulgaria ECR

2

Belgium ECR

2

Greece ECR

Against (1)

1

Slovakia ECR

Abstain (1)

1

Latvia ECR

Against (1)

Abstain (1)

2

Croatia ECR

Against (1)

1
icon: ID ID
55

Netherlands ID

Against (1)

1

Austria ID

2

Denmark ID

Against (1)

1

Finland ID

Against (1)

1

Estonia ID

Against (1)

1

Czechia ID

Against (2)

2
AmendmentsDossier
716 2021/2180(INI)
2022/01/21 JURI 85 amendments...
source: 704.560
2022/01/25 BUDG 25 amendments...
source: 704.661
2022/02/01 AFCO 63 amendments...
source: 703.030
2022/02/08 PETI 109 amendments...
source: 703.216
2022/02/16 CONT 55 amendments...
source: 719.707
2022/03/01 LIBE 379 amendments...
source: 719.809

History

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

docs/7/docs/0/url
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-9-2022-0139_EN.html
docs/8
date
2022-10-20T00:00:00
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Principles common to the Member States, EU values
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Principles common to the Member States, EU values
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