7 Amendments of Esteban GONZÁLEZ PONS related to 2021/2025(INI)
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission’s first ever Rule of Law Report as a positive addition to the EU’s toolbox to prevent and address rule of law issues in Member States, while considering that further improvements are needed;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls that the Commission’s report iwas a response to the Council’s failure to trigger the procedure under Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), as requested by the Commission in 2017 and Parliament in 2018; regrets that the Council has failed to resume hearings under Article 7 of the TEU since December 2019; notes that the failure to apply Article 7 of the TEU, also due to the requirement of unanimity for the sanctions mechanism, enables continued divergence from the values enshrined in Article 2 of the TEUcommitment made by President Von Der Leyen in her political guidelines for the 2019-2024 Commission, ahead of her election;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Regrets the Council’s failure to move further the procedure under Article 7(1) TEU, as requested by the Commission in 2017 and the Parliament in 2018; underlines, in the strongest terms, that only qualified majority is required to determine that there is a clear risk of a serious breach by a Member State of the values referred to in Article 2; regrets that the Council has failed to resume hearings under Article 7 TEU since December 2019; notes with concern that the failure to progress in Article 7 TEU procedure enables continued divergence from the values enshrined in Article 2TEU; urges the Portuguese presidency of the Council to take the appropriate steps in order to move further the procedure under Article7(1) TEU;
Amendment 22 #
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 rightsConsiders the scope of the report can be broadened and fine-tuned as requested by the EP; reiterates the need to have a single monitoring system for democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights, as proposed by Parliament1 ; calls again 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 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the methodology of the report, which focuses on four pillars: independence of the judiciary, the anti- corruption framework, media pluralism, and checks and balances; invites the Commission to in the next editions broaden the scope of the report, or at least of its first pillar and to include in the next editions an assessment of how the right to a fair trial is guaranteed in Member States, with particular attention paid to the right of defence, andthe equality between prosecution and defence parties and the length of trials; believes that the report should go beyond monitoring and include preventive and corrective elements with a clear outline of enforcement measures;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to use all tools at its disposal to counter violations of EU values, such as infringement procedures, including expedited procedures, actions to ensure compliance with the judgments of the Court of Justice and applications for interim measures before the Court; welcomes the new rule of law conditionality mechanism and asks that it be fully enforced with regard to all EU funds, including Next Generation EU; reiterates it has entered into force and is binding in its entirety for all commitment appropriations and payment appropriations in all Member States and for the EU institutions; underlines the importance of the direct applicability of the Regulation since 1 January 2021, particularly in the context of the disbursement of the Next Generation EU funds which will occur early in the budget cycle;
Amendment 56 #
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 balances; insists that any measures restricting the rights and freedoms of EU citizens should be transparent, proportional and temporary; calls on the Commission to furthercontinue analyseing measures taken in response to the COVID- 19 pandemic in its 2021 report.