11 Amendments of Esteban GONZÁLEZ PONS related to 2021/2180(INI)
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Welcomes Commission’s Annual Rule of Law Report as a positive addition to the EU’s toolbox to promote improvements as well as to prevent and address rule of law issues in Member States, and recalls that the Commission’s report was a commitment made by President Von Der Leyen in her political guidelines for the 2019-2024 Commission, ahead of her election;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that public debate about the report is central to the annual rule of law cycle and therefore that the time of its publication is keyrelevant; regrets therefore the publication of the 2021 report just before parliamentary recess in mid-July; calls on the Commission to instate an annual EU Values Week each September, in which the report is presented to the European Parliament and national parliaments at the same time as the Justice Scoreboard, the Fundamental Rights Report, and the Media Pluralism Monitor;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recalls that important elements of Parliament’s resolutions of 25 October 2016 and of 7 October 2020 on the establishment of an EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights are still missing, in particular the panel of independent experts,; calls therefore to widening the scope to include all values set out under Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), and the interinstitutional agreement for an annual monitoring cycle; calls on the Council and Commission to engage in discussions on such interinstitutional agreement, in order to set up a single and coherent monitoring system for democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights in the EU;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Welcomes Commission’s involvement of civil society actors, both through the online public consultation and the country visits and interviews, however believes that more transparency from the Commission on the methodology and selection process of stakeholders invited to consultation meetings, as well as closer consultation and collaboration with civil society to design a more straight forward and more easily accessible process, is needed;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to conclude each country chapter with a ‘traffic light’n assessment of the fulfilment of the conditions of the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation (Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092);
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes Commission proposals´s commitment to include country-specific recommendations as of 2022, as per Parliament’s resolution of 25 October 2016, which should be framed in the context of Member States’ obligations under EU law and international human rights law and standards, which would allow for tracking and evaluating progress and regression against an agreed, binding framework; calls on the Commission to monitor and report on their implementation;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Underlines that while the 2020 Rule of Law Report has encouraged positive reforms related to the rule of law in a number of Member States, some serious concerns remain, however, with regard to a number of Member States, especially pertaining to the independence of the judiciary and the freedom and pluralism of media;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Is concerned that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the fight against corruption, as it slowed down legal reforms or the adjudication of corruption cases in some Member States and increased the risk of corruption; stresses that while efforts to repress corruption have significantly increased in several Member States, yet others are cause for concern as regards the effectiveness of investigation and prosecution;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Highlights that constitutional checks and balances at EU level should be included in the report; commits toassessed, by requesting a Venice Commission opinion on key principles of democracy in EU governance, in particular the separation of powers, accountability and checks and balances;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. CUnderlines the importance of interinstitutional dialogue and cooperation on rule of law matters; calls on the Council to discuss the report in all transparency and engage in dialogue with the European Parliament; calls on the European Council, too, to discuss the findings of the report, as the values of Article 2 TEU are a matter to be addressed at the highest political level.