83 Amendments of Isabel WISELER-LIMA related to 2018/0902R(NLE)
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7
Citation 7
— having regard to its resolutions of 16 January 2020 and 5 May 2022 on ongoing hearings under Article 7(1) of the TEU regarding Poland and Hungary2 , _________________ 2 OJ C 270, 7.7.2021, p. 91.
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. Whereas on 20 July 2020, the Council recommended in its opinion on the 2020 Convergence Programme of Hungary to ensure that any emergency measures be strictly proportionate, limited in time and in line with European and international standards and do not interfere with business activities and the stability of the regulatory environment, to ensure effective involvement of social partners and stakeholders in the policy- making process;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
Gb. Whereas on 25 September 2020, in its second interim compliance report, the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) welcomed the amendments to the Act on the National Assembly to make the provisions prohibiting or restricting members of parliament (MPs) to engage in certain activities more operational by providing for clearer consequences in case these matters are not resolved by the MP in question; however, more determined measures remained necessary to improve the current integrity framework of Parliament, in particular to improve the level of transparency and consultation in the legislative process (including the introduction of rules on interactions with lobbyists), to adopt a code of conduct for MPs (covering in particular various situations that could lead to a conflict of interest), to further develop rules obliging MPs to disclose in an ad-hoc manner potential conflicts between their parliamentary work and their private interests, to ensure a uniform format of asset declarations and to review the broad immunity enjoyed by MPs as well as to ensure the effective supervision and enforcement of rules of conduct, conflict of interest and asset declarations;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G c (new)
Recital G c (new)
Gc. Whereas on 20 November 2020, in her statement, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe urged Hungary’s Parliament to postpone the vote on draft bills fearing that several proposals contained in the complex legislative package, submitted without prior consultation and relating to matters including the functioning of the judiciary, election law, national human rights structures, scrutiny over public funds, and the human rights of LGBTI people, could serve to undermine democracy, the rule of law and human rights in Hungary; whereas on 2 July 2021, in its opinion on the constitutional amendments adopted by the Hungarian Parliament in December 2020, the Venice Commission noted with concern that the constitutional amendments were adopted during a state of emergency, without any public consultation, and the explanatory memorandum consists of only three pages; whereas the Venice Commission also indicated that Articles 6 and 9, and 11 of the Ninth Amendment amending the Fundamental Law of Hungary relating to declarations of war, control of the Hungarian Defence Forces, and the “special legal order” that pertains to state of war, state of emergency and state of danger mainly leave the specification of most details to Cardinal Acts, which could eventually raise some serious questions regarding the scope of the powers of the State during states of exception; whereas, as concerns the abolition of the National Defence Council and the entrusting of its powers to the government, the Venice Commission indicated that, while it is not contrary as such to European standards, it leads to a concentration of emergency powers in the hands of the executive which cannot be considered an encouraging sign, notably in the absence of any clarification in the explanatory memorandum for the ratio or the necessity of such modification; whereas the pending proposal for a constitutional amendment expands the government’s mandate to declare a state of danger to cases of an armed conflict, war or humanitarian disaster in a neighbouring country;
Amendment 44 #
Gd. Whereas on 12 February 2021, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe noted a generally negative situation in terms of local and regional self- government, due to a general failure to comply with the European Charter of Local Self-Government and expressed concerns about a clear trend towards recentralisation, a lack of effective consultation and significant interference by the State in municipal functions; whereas it highlighted certain shortcomings in the situation of local self- government in the country, such as a lack of financial resources available to local authorities and their inability to recruit high quality staff;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G e (new)
Recital G e (new)
Ge. Whereas on 18 October 2021, in their joint opinion on the 2020 amendments to electoral legislation, the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR stressed that the speed and the lack of meaningful public consultations are particularly worrisome when they concern electoral legislation, which should not be seen as a political instrument; they also made the key recommendation to amend Section 3 and Section 68 of the Act CLXVII of 2020 on the Amendment of Certain Acts relating to Elections, by significantly reducing the number of single-member constituencies and the number of counties in which each party needs to nominate candidates simultaneously in order to be able to run a national list of candidates, as well as a number of further recommendations;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G f (new)
Recital G f (new)
Gf. Whereas on 4 April 2022, in the Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions following the Parliamentary Elections and Referendum, the OSCE international election observation mission stated that the 3 April parliamentary elections and referendum were well administered and professionally managed but marred by the absence of a level playing field; whereas contestants were largely able to campaign freely, but while competitive, the campaign was highly negative in tone and characterized by a pervasive overlap between the ruling coalition and the government, and he lack of transparency and insufficient oversight of campaign finances further benefited the governing coalition; the manner in which many election disputes were handled by election commissions and courts fell short of providing effective legal remedy;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas on 20 July 2021, the Commission indicated in the country chapter on Hungary of the 2021 Rule of Law Report that the Hungarian justice system performs well in terms of the length of proceedings and has a high level of digitalisation, and that the gradual increase in the salaries of judges and prosecutors continues; whereas, as regards judicial independence, the justice system has been subject to new developments adding to existing concerns: the new rules allowing for the appointment of members of the Constitutional Court to the Supreme Court (Kúria) outside the normal procedure have been put into practice and have enabled the election of the new Kúria President, whose position was also endowed with additional powers and who was elected despite an unfavourable opinion from the National Judicial Council (NJC); whereas the recommendation to strengthen judicial independence, made in the context of the European Semester, remains unaddressed, including the need to formally reinforce the powers of the independent NJC to enable it to counterbalance the powers of the President of the National Office for the Judiciary (NOJ); whereas the nomination of the new Kúria President was rejected by the NJC with 13 votes against and1 in favour;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. Whereas on 23 November 2021, in Case C-564/19IS (Illégalité de l’ordonnance de renvoi), the CJEU ruled that Article 267 TFEU must be interpreted as precluding the supreme court of a Member State from declaring, following an appeal in the interests of the law, that a request for a preliminary ruling which has been submitted to the CJEU under Article 267 TFEU by a lower court is unlawful on the ground that the questions referred are not relevant and necessary for the resolution of the dispute in the main proceedings, without, however, altering the legal effects of the decision containing that request; whereas the principle of the primacy of EU law requires that lower court to disregard such a decision of the national supreme court; whereas Article 267 TFEU must be interpreted as precluding disciplinary proceedings from being brought against a national judge on the ground that he or she has made a reference for a preliminary ruling to the CJEU under that provision;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
Hb. Whereas on 14 December 2018, in her statement the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe called on Hungary’s President to return to the Parliament the legislative package on administrative courts; whereas on 19 March 2019, in its opinion on the Law on administrative courts and the Law on the entry into force of the Law on administrative courts and certain transitional rules, the Venice Commission stated that the major drawback is that very extensive powers are concentrated in the hands of a few stakeholders and there are no effective checks and balances to counteract those powers;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H c (new)
Recital H c (new)
Hc. Whereas on 21 May 2019, in her Report following the visit to Hungary from 4 to 8 February 2019, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe noted that a series of reforms of the judiciary in Hungary during the 2010s have drawn concern about their effects on the independence of the judiciary, and in the ordinary court system, questions about the effectiveness of the supervision exercised by the NJC over the President of the NJO have been raised by the recent anomalies observed in the relationship between these judicial institutions with reference to appointment procedures; whereas, while welcoming the recent amendments made to the original legislation on the administrative courts in response to the opinion of the Venice Commission, the Commissioner was not persuaded that the amendments are sufficient in addressing the serious concerns identified by the Venice Commission;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H e (new)
Recital H e (new)
He. Whereas on 28 November 2019, in her statement the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe urged the Hungarian Parliament to modify a bill affecting the independence of the judiciary; whereas the Commissioner considered that the provisions opening the possibility of administrative authorities to introduce constitutional complaints following unfavourable rulings by the ordinary courts raise concerns about upholding fair trial guarantees for the individual complainant and, coupled with the proposed changes on the qualifications and appointments of judges and the uniformity of jurisprudence, the legislative measures also run the risk of diminishing the independence of individual judges in their core duties and of creating excessive hierarchies within the judicial system;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H f (new)
Recital H f (new)
Hf. Whereas on 16 October 2021, in its opinion on the amendments to the Act on the Organisation and Administration of the Courts and the Act on the Legal Status and Remuneration of Judges, adopted by the Hungarian Parliament in December 2020, the Venice Commission reiterated the recommendations expressed in its 2012 opinion which have not been addressed by the authorities as to the role of the President of the NOJ; whereas the Venice Commission also recommended setting up clear, transparent and foreseeable conditions for the seconded judges to be assigned to a higher position after the period of secondment; whereas the Venice Commission made several recommendations related to the allocation of cases, the power of the President of the Kúria to increase the members of adjudicating panels, the uniformity decisions and the composition of chambers in the uniformity complaint procedure; whereas the Venice Commission also observed that the regime of appointment of the President of the Kúria introduced with the 2019 amendments could pose serious risks of politicisation and important consequences for the independence of the judiciary, or the perception thereof by the public, considering the crucial role of this position in the judicial system;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H g (new)
Recital H g (new)
Hg. Whereas on 25 September 2020, in its second interim compliance report GRECO noted that, as regards judges, no further progress has been reported regarding the three remaining non- implemented recommendations, and GRECO’s findings on the powers of the President of the NJO (both as regards the process of appointing or promoting candidates for judicial positions and the process of re-assigning judges) remain of special significance; as regards prosecutors, GRECO welcomed the entry into force of legislative amendments making the involvement of a disciplinary commissioner compulsory in disciplinary proceedings, however, without saying that recommendation xvii had now been complied with; no progress had been achieved regarding the prolongation of the term of the Prosecutor General, the broad immunity enjoyed by prosecutors and the development of criteria to guide the removal of cases from subordinate prosecutors;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H h (new)
Recital H h (new)
Hh. Whereas on 15 April 2021, in his communication with the government of Hungary, the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers considered that the appointment of the President of the Kúria may be regarded as an attack to the independence of the judiciary and as an attempt to submit the judiciary to the will of the legislative branch, in violation of the principle of separation of powers; whereas the Special Rapporteur also highlighted that the fact that the President of the Kúria was elected in spite of the manifest objection of the NJC is of particular concern, and the decision to ignore the negative opinion expressed by the NJC may be interpreted as a political statement by the ruling majority that does not consider itself bound to respect judicial independence by abiding to, or at least taking into account the views expressed by the body constitutionally assigned to safe guard the independence of courts and judges; whereas according to the Special Rapporteur, the main effect – if not the main goal – of the reforms of the judicial system has been to hamper the constitutionally protected principle of judicial independence and to enable the legislative and executive branches to interfere with the administration of justice;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H i (new)
Recital H i (new)
Hi. Whereas on 2 December 2021, in its decision concerning the pending enhanced supervision of the execution of the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) judgments in Gazsó group v. Hungary, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe recalled that this group of cases, the first of which became final in 2003, concerns the structural problem of excessive length of civil, criminal and administrative proceedings and the lack of effective domestic remedies, noted with satisfaction the adoption of the bill introducing a compensatory remedy for excessively long civil proceedings and its impending entry into force on 1 January 2022, but with a view to avoiding the risk of an influx of new applications to the ECtHR, firmly called on the authorities to ensure its Convention-compliant application and invited them to provide the Committee with concrete information on its implementation in practice, and noted the authorities’ timetable for preparing a proposal for a remedy covering other types of judicial proceedings by the end of June 2023; in light of the importance of the matter, its technical nature and the expiry of the deadline set by the ECtHR in its pilot-judgment more than five years ago, strongly encouraged the authorities to explore any possible avenue for accelerating their planning;
Amendment 60 #
Hj. Whereas on 9 March 2022, in its interim resolution concerning the pending enhanced supervision of the execution of the ECtHR judgment in Baka v. Hungary, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe strongly urged the authorities to step up their efforts to find ways, in close cooperation with the Secretariat, to introduce the required measures to ensure that a decision by Parliament to impeach the President of the Kúria will be subject to effective oversight by an independent judicial body in line with the ECtHR case- law and recalled, once again, the authorities’ undertaking to evaluate the domestic legislation on the status of judges and the administration of courts, and urged them to present the conclusions of their evaluation, including of the guarantees and safeguards protecting judges from undue interferences, to enable the Committee to make a full assessment as to whether the concerns regarding the ‘chilling effect’ on the freedom of expression of judges caused by the violations in these cases have been dispelled;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
Ia. Whereas in written answers to questions to Commissioner Hahn regarding the hearing of 11 November 2019 on the 2018 discharge to the Commission, the Commission indicated that for 2014-2020, flat rate financial corrections were accepted and implemented in Hungary following an horizontal public procurement audit, that identified serious deficiencies in the functioning of the management and control system in relation to the control of public procurement procedures;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I b (new)
Recital I b (new)
Ib. Whereas on 20 July 2020, the Council recommended in its opinion on the 2020 Convergence Programme of Hungary to improve competition in public procurement;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas on 5 April 2022, the Commission President announced that Commissioner for Budget Johannes Hahn had informed the Hungarian authorities about the Commission’s plans to move on to the next step and formally trigger the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation5 , mainly over corruption concerns; whereas on 27 April 2022, the Commission finally started the formal procedure against Hungary under the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation by sending a written notification; _________________ 5 Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 of 16 December 2020 on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget, OJ L 433 I , 22.12.2020, p. 1.
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
Ka. Whereas on 6 April 2022, the Commission decided to send additional formal notice to ensure correct transposition of Directive2014/24/EU on public procurement, Directive 2014/23/EU on the award of concession contracts and Directive 2014/25/EU on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors; whereas, according to the Commission, Hungarian law allows for more extensive application of exceptions as regards security reasons and for contracts subsidised via tax benefits, and these exceptions lead to a broader exclusion of contracts from the obligations under EU law; whereas in addition, the Commission also believes that changes in the Hungarian mining law, which provide for the possibility to award mining concessions without transparent tendering procedures, are against the principle of transparency;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K b (new)
Recital K b (new)
Kb. Whereas on 25 September 2020, in its second interim compliance report, GRECO noted that Hungary had still only implemented satisfactorily or dealt in a satisfactory manner five of the eighteen recommendations contained in the Fourth Round Evaluation Report and concluded that the overall low level of compliance with the recommendations remains "globally unsatisfactory";
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K c (new)
Recital K c (new)
Kc. Whereas in the mission report following the ad-hoc LIBE delegation to Budapest, Hungary on 29 September - 1 October 2021, concerns were raised about the lack of safeguards as regards surveillance in the current legislation, with no real checks and balances and remedies; whereas concerns were raised on the alleged use of the Pegasus spyware and increased surveillance by the state against activists, journalists and lawyers;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K e (new)
Recital K e (new)
Ke. Whereas on 9 March 2022, in its decision concerning the pending enhanced supervision of the execution of the ECtHR judgment in Szabó and Vissy v. Hungary, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe recalled that this case concerns the violation of the applicants’ right to respect for their private and family life and for their correspondence on account of the Hungarian legislation on national security-related measures of secret surveillance, which lacked safeguards sufficiently precise, effective and comprehensive on the ordering, execution and potential redressing of these measures, highlighted that secret surveillance should be regarded as a highly intrusive act that potentially interferes with the rights to freedom of expression and privacy and threatens the foundations of a democratic society and recalling that in response to the ECtHR judgment the authorities announced in 2017 the need for a legislative reform, and noted with serious concern that, despite this the legislative process is still at a preliminary stage and the authorities have not presented any other relevant developments; therefore, strongly called on the authorities to urgently adopt the measures required to bring the domestic legislation fully in line with the Convention requirements, establish a timeline for the legislative process and to present to the Committee a draft legislative proposal;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
La. Whereas on 2 December 2021, the Commission decided to send a reasoned opinion regarding a decision made by the Hungarian Media Council to reject Klubradio's application for the use of radio spectrum; whereas the Commission concluded that the decisions of the Hungarian Media Council to refuse renewal of Klubradio's rights were disproportionate and non-transparent, and the Hungarian national media law has been applied in a discriminatory way in this particular case, in breach of Directive (EU)2018/1972 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018establishing the European Electronic Communications Code;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L b (new)
Recital L b (new)
Lb. Whereas on 8 October 2019, in its judgment in Szurovecz v. Hungary, the ECtHR found a violation of the freedom of expression regarding the lack of media access to reception facilities for asylum- seekers; whereas the supervision of the execution of that judgment remains pending;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L c (new)
Recital L c (new)
Lc. Whereas on 3 December 2019, in its judgment in Scheiring and Szabó v. Hungary, and on 2 December 2021, in its judgment in Szél and Others v. Hungary, the ECtHR found that there had been violations of the freedom of expression regarding displaying banners in the Parliament of Hungary; whereas the supervision of the execution of those judgments is still pending;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L d (new)
Recital L d (new)
Ld. Whereas on 20 January 2020, in its judgment in Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Párt v. Hungary, the ECtHR found that there had been a violation of the freedom of expression regarding penalising for providing apolitical party’s mobile application which allowed voters to photograph, anonymously upload and comment on invalid votes cast during a referendum on immigration in 2016; whereas the supervision of the execution of that judgment is still pending;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L e (new)
Recital L e (new)
Le. Whereas on 23 March 2020, in his statement the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media expressed his concerns about provisions of the coronavirus response draft bill in Hungary that could negatively impact the work of the media reporting on the pandemic;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L f (new)
Recital L f (new)
Lf. Whereas on 26 May2020, in its judgment in Mándli and Others v. Hungary, the ECtHR found a violation of the freedom of expression regarding the suspension of the applicants’ Parliament accreditation as journalists; whereas the supervision of the execution of that judgment remain spending;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L g (new)
Recital L g (new)
Lg. Whereas on 30 March 2021, in her Memorandum on freedom of expression and media freedom in Hungary, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe indicated that the combined effects of apolitically controlled media regulatory authority and sustained and distorting state intervention in the media market have eroded the conditions for media pluralism and the freedom of expression in Hungary, and free political debate and the free exchange of diverse opinions, which are the prerequisites for democratic societies to thrive, have been severely curtailed, particularly outside the capital;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L h (new)
Recital L h (new)
Lh. Whereas on 22 November 2021, in her statement following the visit to Hungary the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression indicated that Hungary’s interventions in the media sector over the past decade could create risks for human rights in the upcoming elections, and by exerting influence over media regulatory bodies, providing substantial state funds to support pro-government media, facilitating the expansion and development of media that follow a pro- government editorial line, and ostracizing media outlets and journalists reporting critically on the government, the authorities have proactively reshaped the media sector and in their efforts to create “balance” have undermined media diversity, pluralism and independence;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L i (new)
Recital L i (new)
Li. Whereas on 4 April 2022, in the Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions following the Parliamentary Elections and Referendum, the OSCE international election observation mission stated that the bias and lack of balance in monitored news coverage and the absence of debates between major contestants significantly limited the voters’ opportunity to make an informed choice;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L j (new)
Recital L j (new)
Lj. Whereas on 8 April 2022, the Hungarian National Election Office considered that the nationwide NGO campaign urging people to vote invalid in the referendum regarding children’s access to information concerning sexual orientation and gender identity issues was unlawful, and imposed fines on 16 different Hungarian NGOs participating in the referendum campaign;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L k (new)
Recital L k (new)
Lk. Whereas on 6 October 2020, in Case C-66/18 Commission v Hungary (Enseignement supérieur), the CJEU ruled that by adopting the measures provided for in Article 76(1)(a) and (b) of Law No CCIV of 2011 on national higher education, as amended, Hungary has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 13, Article 14(3) and Article 16 of the Charter, Article 49 TFEU and Article 16 of Directive 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market, as well the World Trade Organization law;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L l (new)
Recital L l (new)
Ll. Whereas on 2 July 2021, in its opinion on the constitutional amendments adopted by the Hungarian Parliament in December 2020, the Venice Commission considered that Article 7 of the Ninth Amendments relating to Article 38 of the Constitution and introducing in the Fundamental Law the “public interest asset management foundations performing public duties” should be reconsidered; these foundations should rather be regulated by statutory law, clearly setting out all relevant duties of transparency and accountability for the management of their funds (public and private), as well as appropriate safeguards of independence for the composition and functioning of the board of trustees; whereas the Venice Commission also mentioned that these laws should take into account the significant role of universities as places of freethought and argumentation, providing for all due measures to guarantee the proper safeguard of academic independence and institutional autonomy;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L m (new)
Recital L m (new)
Lm. Whereas on 22 November 2021, in her statement following the visit to Hungary the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression urged the authorities to effectively protect academic freedom and respect the rights of professors and students, given the risks linked to the privatisation of public universities for the autonomy of the scholars;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L n (new)
Recital L n (new)
Ln. Whereas on 21 December 2018 a comprehensive amendment to the 2011 Church Act was promulgated; whereas, according to the government, it opened legal avenues for religious communities to apply, before the Metropolitan Court of Budapest, for the status of religious association, registered church or incorporated church; whereas the supervision of the execution of the ECtHR judgment in Magyar Keresztény Mennonita Egyház and Others v. Hungary remains pending;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L o (new)
Recital L o (new)
Lo. Whereas on 2 July 2021,in its opinion on the constitutional amendments adopted by the Hungarian Parliament in December 2020, the Venice Commission recommended that the public-school system must provide an objective and pluralist curriculum, avoiding indoctrination and discrimination on all grounds, respecting parental convictions and their freedom to choose between religious and non-religious classes;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L p (new)
Recital L p (new)
Lp. Whereas on 18 June 2020 in Case C-78/18 of Commission v Hungary (Transparency of Associations), the CJEU ruled that by adopting the provisions of Law No LXXVI of 2017 on the Transparency of Organisations which receive Support from Abroad, which impose obligations of registration, declaration and publication on certain categories of civil society organisations directly or indirectly receiving support from abroad exceeding a certain threshold and which provide for the possibility of applying penalties to organisations that do not comply with those obligations, Hungary has introduced discriminatory and unjustified restrictions on foreign donations to civil society organisations, in breach of its obligations under Article 63 TFEU and Articles 7, 8and 12 of the Charter; whereas on 18 February 2021, the Commission decided to send a letter of formal notice to the Hungarian authorities, considering they had not taken the necessary measures to comply with the judgment; whereas on20 July 2021, the Commission indicated in the country chapter on Hungary of the 2021 Rule of Law Report that the Hungarian Parliament repealed the law and introduced new rules on legality checks for civil society, and pressure remains on civil society organisations critical towards the government; where as the adoption of the new law was not preceded by any public consultation, and NGOs have not been consulted directly either, in contradiction with the Venice Commission’s indication that the public consultation should involve, as far as possible, all civil society organisations the status, financing or spheres of operation of which will be affected as a result of the entry into force of this legislation (expressed on20 June 2017 in its opinion on the Draft Law on the Transparency of Organisations Receiving Support from Abroad);
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L q (new)
Recital L q (new)
Lq. Whereas on 23 July 2021, the donor states, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, announced no agreement had been reached on the appointment of a Fund Operator to manage the funding for civil society; as a consequence, no programmes will be implemented under the EEA and Norway Grants during the current funding period, while €214.6 million in funding from the EEA and Norway Grants were set aside for Hungary;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L r (new)
Recital L r (new)
Lr. Whereas on 17 December 2018, in their joint opinion on Section 253 of Act XLI of 20 July 2018 amending certain tax laws and other related laws, and on the immigration tax, the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR stated that the 25%tax on financial support to an immigration-supporting activity carried out in Hungary or on the financial support to the operations of an organisation with a seat in Hungary that carries out immigration-supporting activity, does not meet the requirement of legality and constitutes an unjustified interference with the rights to freedom of expression and of association of the NGOs affected;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L s (new)
Recital L s (new)
Ls. Whereas on 21 May 2019, in her Report following the visit to Hungary from 4 to 8 February 2019, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe stressed that the legislative measures have stigmatised and criminalised civil society activities which should be considered fully legitimate in a democratic society, they exercise a continuous chilling effect on NGOs, and some of the legal provisions are exceptionally vague, arbitrary and not implemented in practice;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L t (new)
Recital L t (new)
Lt. Whereas on 11 May 2020, in his report on the visit to Hungary in 2019 the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants observed that civil society organizations working on the rights of migrants in Hungary experienced multiple obstacles in carrying out their legitimate and important work; those obstacles resulted from legislative amendments, financial restrictions and other operational and practical measures taken by the relevant authorities; in addition, a number of civil society organizations had been subjected to smear campaigns, in some cases followed by administrative or criminal investigations;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L u (new)
Recital L u (new)
Lu. Whereas on 20 July 2021, the Commission indicated in the country chapter on Hungary of the 2021 Rule of Law Report that the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights (CFR) has gained more competences, but its independence has been questioned by stakeholders;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L v (new)
Recital L v (new)
Lv. Whereas on 2 December 2021, the Commission decided to send a reasoned opinion to the Hungarian authorities considering that by imposing an obligation to provide information on a divergence from ‘traditional gender roles', Hungary restricts the freedom of expression of authors and book publishers (Article 11 of the Charter); discriminates on grounds of sexual orientation in an unjustified way (Article 21 of the Charter ),and incorrectly applies the EU rules on unfair commercial practices under Directive 2005/29/EC concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L w (new)
Recital L w (new)
Lw. Whereas on 2 December 2021, the Commission decided to send a reasoned opinion to the Hungarian authorities with regard to their national rules that seek to prohibit or limit access to content that portrays the so-called ‘divergence from self-identity corresponding to sex at birth, sex change or homosexuality' for individuals under 18 years of age, considering that these national rules run contrary to Directive 2010/13/EU on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services, Directive 2000/31/EC on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market, as well as human dignity, freedom of expression and information, the right to respect of private life as well as the right to non- discrimination as enshrined respectively in Articles 1, 7, 11 and 21 of the Charter; whereas on 22 June 2021, 18 EU Member States joined a statement on the margins of the General Affairs Council, opposing the adoption of the law;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L x (new)
Recital L x (new)
Lx. Whereas on 21 May 2019, in her Report following the visit to Hungary from 4 to 8 February 2019, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe indicated that Hungary is backsliding in gender equality and women’s rights, the political representation of women is strikingly low, and in government policy, women’s issues are closely associated with family affairs and the authorities have ceased implementing a specific strategy on gender equality;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L y (new)
Recital L y (new)
Ly. Whereas on 29 April 2020, in his statement, the UN Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity urged Hungary to drop proposed legislation that would deny trans and gender diverse people the right to legal recognition and self-determination;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L z (new)
Recital L z (new)
Lz. Whereas on 3 March 2020, in its Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of Hungary, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child called on the government to act, adopt a strategy, and provide information and support to vulnerable children, including specific measures targeting girls, Roma children, asylum-seeking and migrant children and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children; whereas the Committee also raised serious concerns about children with disabilities being deprived of their families and living in institutions, insufficient measures by the Hungarian authorities to end institutionalisation and promote access to health, rehabilitation services and other inclusion activities, cases of sexual abuse and maltreatment of children with disabilities in institutional care, lack of information on the situation of Roma children with disabilities, and the continuing stigma endured by children with disabilities;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L aa (new)
Recital L aa (new)
Laa. whereas on 5 May 2020 the Parliament of Hungary adopted a resolution rejecting ratification of the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention);
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L ab (new)
Recital L ab (new)
Lab. Whereas on 16 July 2020, in its judgment in Ranav. Hungary, the ECtHR found a violation of the right to respect for private life in case of a transgender man from Iran who had obtained asylum in Hungary but could not legally change his gender and name in that country; whereas the enhanced supervision of the execution remains pending;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L ac (new)
Recital L ac (new)
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L ad (new)
Recital L ad (new)
Lad. Whereas on 14-25 March 2022, in its Report and Recommendations of the Virtual Session, the Sub-Committee on Accreditation of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions recommended to downgrade the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights to a B-status, as the Sub-Committee has not received the written evidence necessary to establish that the Commissioner is effectively carrying out its mandate in relation to vulnerable groups such as ethnic minorities, LGBTQI people, human rights defenders, refugees and migrants, or related to important human rights issues such as media pluralism, civic space and judicial independence; whereas the Sub-Committee is of the view that the Commissioner is acting in a way that seriously compromises its compliance with the Paris Principles; whereas the Sub-Committee also noted issues in the selection and appointment process and in working relationships and cooperation with civil society organizations and human rights defenders;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L ae (new)
Recital L ae (new)
Lae. Whereas on 2 July 2021, in its opinion on the constitutional amendments adopted by the Hungarian Parliament in December 2020, the Venice Commission recommended that the constitutional amendment regarding marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and the addition that “The mother shall be a woman, the father shall be a man”, should not be used as an opportunity to withdraw existing laws on the protection of individuals who are not heterosexuals, or to amend these laws to their disadvantage; whereas it also recommended that the interpretation and application of the constitutional amendments, especially in the drafting of the implementing legislation, should be carried out in a way that the principle of non-discrimination on all grounds, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, is thoroughly implemented; whereas it further noted that the amendment “Hungary shall protect the right of children to a self-identity corresponding to their sex at birth” should be repealed or modified to ensure that it does not have the effect of denying the rights of transgender people to legal recognition of their acquired gender identity;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L af (new)
Recital L af (new)
Laf. Whereas on 18 October 2021, in its opinion on the amendments to the Act on Equal Treatment and Promotion of Equal Opportunities and to the Act on the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights as adopted by the Hungarian Parliament in December 2020, the Venice Commission indicated that there are risks associated with the merger of the equality bodies with the national human rights institutions including, but not limited to, different traditions, legal procedures and approaches the institutions may have in place and observed that collision of the competences already enjoyed by the Commissioner under Act CXI and those acquired in his /her capacity as successor of the Equal Treatment Authority, is a clear demonstration of a risk that may undermine the effectiveness of the work in the field of promoting equality and combating discrimination;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L ag (new)
Recital L ag (new)
Lag. Whereas on 13 January 2022 in her statement the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe indicated that the decision of the Hungarian government to conduct a national referendum regarding children’s access to information concerning sexual orientation and gender identity issues on the same day as the parliamentary elections is deeply regrettable as it furthers the instrumentalisation of the human rights of LGBTI people; whereas on 4 April 2022, in the Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions following the Parliamentary Elections and Referendum, the OSCE international election observation mission highlighted that contrary to established international good practice, the legal framework for the referendum does not guarantee equal opportunities to campaign and voters were not informed in an objective and balanced manner on the choices presented to them nor on their binding effect;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L ah (new)
Recital L ah (new)
Lah. Whereas on 4 April 2022, in the Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions following the Parliamentary Elections and Referendum, the OSCE international election observation mission highlighted that women were underrepresented in the campaign and as candidates;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L ai (new)
Recital L ai (new)
Lai. Whereas on 25 March 2022, in the Concluding observations on the combined second and third report of Hungary the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities expressed concerns that people with disabilities do not have a mechanism to make a decision out of autonomy, and recommended that Hungary amend its legislation to ensure supported decision-making respect the dignity, autonomy, will and preferences of people with disabilities in exercising their legal capacity; whereas the Committee also recommended that Hungary redesign its measures and redirect its budgets into community-based support services, such as personal assistance, with a view to provide support to live independently and equally in the community;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L aj (new)
Recital L aj (new)
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L ak (new)
Recital L ak (new)
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L al (new)
Recital L al (new)
Lal. Whereas on 6 June 2019, in the Concluding observations on the combined eighteenth to twenty-fifth periodic reports of Hungary the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination indicated it was is deeply alarmed by the prevalence of racist hate speech against Roma, migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and other minorities, which fuels hatred and intolerance and at times incites violence towards such groups, in particular from leading politicians and in the media, including on the Internet; it was especially deeply alarmed at reports that public figures, including at the highest levels, have made statements that may promote racial hatred, in particular as part of the government’s anti- immigrant and anti-refugee campaign started in 2015, and at the presence and operation of organizations that promote racial hatred; whereas, while taking note of the information provided on measures taken to improve the situation of Roma, including in the fields of health and education, as well as through the National Social Inclusion Strategy of 2011, the Committee remained highly concerned at the persistence of discrimination against Roma and the segregation and extreme poverty that they face;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L am (new)
Recital L am (new)
Lam. Whereas on 26 May 2020, in its Fifth opinion on Hungary, the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities indicated that Hungary has maintained its policy to support national minorities based on a solid legislative framework, but it remains necessary to address structural difficulties faced by Roma in all spheres of public and private life, including education, employment, housing and access to health care; whereas it highlighted that urgent measures need to be taken in order to remedy the Roma situation, combat early school leaving, and promote inclusive and quality education, including in segregated areas; in disadvantaged regions, there is a need for stronger complementarity between national and local policies so as to provide long-term solutions to employment and housing problems; access to health care and social services remains subject to serious practical obstacles, mainly to the detriment of Roma women and children;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L an (new)
Recital L an (new)
Lan. Whereas on 16 September 2021, in its decision concerning the pending enhanced supervision of the execution of the ECtHR judgments in Horváth and Kiss v. Hungary, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe recalled that this case concerns the discriminatory misplacement and overrepresentation of Roma children in special schools for children with mental disabilities, due to their systematic misdiagnosis, and that, under the ECtHR case-law, the State is under a positive obligation to avoid perpetuating discriminative practices, noted with interest the use of an upgraded examination system, including tools allowing an objective assessment of the learning abilities of Roma children, by all 21 expert committees, the steady increase in the number of children receiving integrated education when diagnosed with special educational needs and the social development program, which was put in place in 30 of the most disadvantaged settlements, and encouraged the Hungarian authorities to further pursue these measures, reiterated their invitation to the authorities to provide examples demonstrating the effectiveness of the administrative and judicial remedies against the findings of the expert committees, to complete the statistical data provided in this respect, and to provide further information on the newly established procedure before the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, and noted that the possible participation of an equal opportunities expert during the examination of the learning abilities of multiply disadvantaged children constitutes an important safeguard in this process with a view to preventing discriminatory practices against Roma children but that it remains purely theoretical so far;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L ao (new)
Recital L ao (new)
Lao. Whereas the supervision of the execution of the ECtHR judgments in Balázs group v. Hungary concerning violations of the prohibition of discrimination read in conjunction with the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment on account of the authorities’ failure to carry out effective investigations into the question of possible racial motives behind the ill-treatment inflicted on the Roma applicants by law enforcement agents, remains pending;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L ap (new)
Recital L ap (new)
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L aq (new)
Recital L aq (new)
Laq. Whereas on 2 April 2020, in Joined Cases C-715/17, C-718/17and C- 719/17 including Commission v Hungary (Temporary mechanism for the relocation of applicants for international protection), the CJEU ruled that by failing to indicate at regular intervals, and at least every three months, an appropriate number of applicants for international protection who can be relocated swiftly to its territory, Hungary has, since 25 December 2015, failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 5(2) of Decision 2015/1601 and has consequently failed to fulfil its subsequent relocation obligations under Article 5(4) to (11) of that decision;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L ar (new)
Recital L ar (new)
Lar. Whereas on 14 May 2020, in Joined Cases C-924/19PPU and C-925/19 PPU OrszágosIdegenrendészeti Főigazgatóság Dél-alföldi Regionális Igazgatóság and OrszágosIdegenrendészeti Főigazgatóság, the CJEU ruled that Directive 2008/115 on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals and Directive 2013/33/EU mean that the obligation imposed on a third-country national to remain permanently in a transit zone the perimeter of which is restricted and closed, within which that national’s movements are limited and monitored, and which he or she cannot legally leave voluntarily, in any direction whatsoever, appears to be a deprivation of liberty, characterised by ‘detention’ within the meaning of those directives, and indicated that EU law precludes a number of provisions of the Hungarian legislation;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L as (new)
Recital L as (new)
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L at (new)
Recital L at (new)
Lat. Whereas on 9 June 2021, the Commission decided to send a letter of formal notice and a reasoned opinion to the Hungarian authorities for failing to fully transpose Directive 2013/32/EU on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection as regards provisions on the personal interview, the medical screening, guarantees for unaccompanied children and teenagers and on the asylum examination procedure;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L au (new)
Recital L au (new)
Lau. Whereas on 15 July 2021, the Commission decided to refer Hungary to the CJEU considering that new asylum procedure is incompatible with Article 6 of Directive 2013/32 on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection, interpreted in the light of Article 18 of the Charter (Case C- 823/21 Commission v Hungary);
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L av (new)
Recital L av (new)
Lav. Whereas on 16 November 2021, in Case C-821/19 Commission v Hungary (Incrimination de l’aide aux demandeurs d’asile), the CJEU ruled that Hungary has failed to fulfil its obligations under:1) Article 33(2) of Directive 2013/32/EU on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection by allowing an application for international protection to be rejected as inadmissible on the ground that the applicant arrived on its territory via a State in which that person was not exposed to persecution or a risk of serious harm, or in which a sufficient degree of protection is guaranteed; 2) Article 8(2) and Article 22(1)of Directive 2013/32 and Article 10(4) of Directive 2013/33/EU laying down standards for the reception of applicants for international protection by criminalising in its national law the actions of any person who, in connection with an organising activity, provides assistance in respect of the making or lodging of an application for asylum in its territory, where it can be proved beyond all reasonable doubt that that person was aware that that application could not be accepted under that law; 3) Article 8(2),Article 12(1)(c) and Article 22(1) of Directive 2013/32 and Article 10(4) of Directive 2013/33 by preventing any person who is suspected of having committed such an offence from the right to approach its external borders;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L aw (new)
Recital L aw (new)
Law. Whereas on 21 May 2019, in her Report following the visit to Hungary from 4 to 8 February 2019, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe found that the stance against immigration and asylum seekers adopted by the government since 2015 has resulted in a legislative framework which undermines the reception of asylum seekers and the integration of recognised refugees as prescribed by international human rights obligations;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L ax (new)
Recital L ax (new)
Lax. Whereas on 17 March 2020 in its report on the visit to Hungary in 2018, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) highlighted that nothing had been done since the CPT’s 2017 ad hoc visit to put in place effective safeguards to prevent ill- treatment of persons returned by Hungarian police officers through the border fence towards Serbia, and it was also clear that there were still no legal remedies capable of offering such persons effective protection against their forced removal and/or refoulement, including chain refoulement;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L ay (new)
Recital L ay (new)
Lay. Whereas on 6 June 2019, in the Concluding observations on the combined eighteenth to twenty-fifth periodic reports of Hungary the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed concerns by the alarming situation of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, at the reports that the principle of non-refoulement is not fully respected in law and in practice, and deep alarm at the reported excessive use of force and violence by law enforcement officers against third country nationals found anywhere in Hungary, while “pushing back” those found near the border to Serbia, resulting in injuries and bodily harm;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L az (new)
Recital L az (new)
Laz. Whereas on 2 March 2021, in its judgment in R.R. and Others v. Hungary, the ECtHR found that the lack of food provided to R.R. and the conditions of stay of the other applicants (a pregnant woman and children) had led to violation of the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment, and the applicants’ stay in the transit zone had amounted to a defacto deprivation of liberty and that the absence of any formal decision of the authorities and any proceedings by which the lawfulness of their detention could have been decided speedily by a court had led to violations of right to liberty and security; whereas on 24 February 2022, in its judgment in M.B.K. and Others v. Hungary, the ECtHR came to similar conclusions; whereas the enhanced supervision of the execution of those judgments remains pending;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L az (new)
Recital L az (new)
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L bb (new)
Recital L bb (new)
Lbb. Whereas on 8 July 2021, in its judgment in Shahzad v. Hungary, the ECtHR found that the applicant had been subject to a “collective” expulsion as his individual situation had not been ascertained by the authorities, and they had not provided genuine and effective ways to enter Hungary, removal had not been a result of his conduct, and the applicant had not had an adequate legal remedy available to him; whereas the enhanced supervision of the execution of that judgment remains pending;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L bc (new)
Recital L bc (new)
Lbc. Whereas on 2 December 2021, in its decision concerning the pending enhanced supervision of the execution of the ECtHR judgment in Ilias and Ahmed v. Hungary, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe recalled that this case concerns a violation of the procedural obligation under Article 3 to assess the risks of ill-treatment before removing the asylum-seeking applicants to Serbia by relying on a general presumption of “safe third country”, noted with deep regret that no steps have been taken towards conducting the necessary reassessment of the legislative presumption of “safe third country” in respect of Serbia and firmly reiterated their invitation to carry out such reassessment without further delay and in line with the requirements of the ECtHR case-law, and to present the grounds and the outcome thereof, and noted with grave concern that, despite the concerns expressed in their previous decision, the practice of forced removals without orderly procedure has continued; strongly reiterated their call on the authorities to fully comply with the requirements flowing from the ECtHR judgment and to ensure that forced returns are framed by orderly procedures and safeguards notably concerning every person’s right to seek asylum as established by international law;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L bd (new)
Recital L bd (new)
Lbd. Whereas the supervision of the execution of the ECtHR judgments in Nabil and Others group v. Hungary concerning violations of the applicant asylum seekers’ right to liberty and security, on account of their detention pending the examination of the merits of their asylum claims, remains pending;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L bg (new)
Recital L bg (new)
Lbg. Whereas on 3 March 2020, in the Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of Hungary, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that Hungary continue to invest in measures to end poverty, paying particular attention to Roma children and children living in socioeconomically deprived areas and raised serious concerns about the number of students leaving school early, most of them from disadvantaged backgrounds, the allocation of public schools to religious communities, which can contribute to segregation based on religion and belief, the continued segregation of Roma children in education, the education gap between Roma and non-Roma children, the lack of official data on Roma children in education, the bullying, abuse and exclusion faced by children in schools, in particular, LGBTI children, the use of methods of discipline in schools not protecting children from physical and mental violence;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to make full use of the tools available to address the clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded, in particular expedited infringement procedures, applications for interim measures before the Court of Justice and actions regarding non- implementation of the Court’s judgments; recalls the importance of the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation and welcomes the decision to trigger it in the case of Hungary, albeit after a long delay and with a limited scope; calls on the Commission to take immediate action under the regulation as regards other breaches of the rule of law; notes the risk of misuse of funds under the Recovery and Resilience Facility and reiterates its call for the Commission to refrain from approval of the Hungarian plan until Hungary has fully complied with all European Semester country- specific recommendations in the field of the rule of law and until it has implemented all the relevant judgments of the CJEU and the ECtHR;
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Commission to support independent civil society in Hungary which safeguards the European values enshrined in Article 2 TEU, in particular, by using the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme; reiterates its call on the Commission to adopt a comprehensive civil society strategy for the protection and development of civic space within the Union that integrates all existing tools and outlines a set of concrete measures that will protect and strengthen civic space;