20 Amendments of Michal WIEZIK related to 2021/2180(INI)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Emphasises the important role of the Committee on Petitions in identifying and flagging possible breaches of the rule of law, taking into account the numerous petitions received from citizens concerned about breaches of the rule of law in several Member States; strongly believes that full protection of all EU citizens can only be ensured throughout the Union if all Member States comply with all principles of the rule of law; stresses that the Rule of Law Report must be objective and assess all Member States according to the same criteria;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Welcomes the European Court of Justice decision to reject the actions brought by Hungary and Poland against the Conditionality Regulation; deplores the time wasted since its entry into force by the European Commission, who unilaterally decided to abide by non- binding European Council conclusions, which led the European Parliament to take action under Article 265 TFEU for failure to act; highlights that the Commission’s 2021 Rule of Law Report contains multiple and detailed examples of breaches of the rule of law that fall within the scope of the Conditionality regulation, which should have led the European Commission to trigger the conditionality mechanism a long time ago;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Highlights that the rule of law includes principles such as legality, legal certainty, the separation of powers, the prohibition of the arbitrary exercise of executive power, effective judicial protection by independent and impartial courts in full respect of fundamental rights, the fight against impunity, the enforcement of judgments including the permanent subjection of all public authorities to established laws and procedures, and equality before the law;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls its resolution of 8 July 2021 on the creation of guidelines for the application of the Conditionality Regulation; insists that the Commission include in its annual rule of law reports a section dedicated to cases where rule of law breaches in a Member State could affect or seriously risk affecting the sound financial management of the Union budget or the protection of the Union’s financial interests in a sufficiently direct way; calls on the Commission to conclude each country chapter with a ‘traffic light’ assessment of the fulfilment of the conditions of the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Emphasises that judicial accountability and, prosecutorial and judicial independence and the enforcement of judgments are crucial components of the rule of law; calls on the Commission to enforce these core EU values when they are infringed by Member States in order to increase citizens’ trust in the judiciaryor when Member States fail to act on violations carried out by sub-state entities, in order to increase citizens’ trust in the judiciary, and by using all means at their disposal, especially the rule of law conditionality mechanism, where applicable;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Regrets the mostly descriptive nature of the Commission's 2021 Rule of Law Report and calls on the Commission to address this aspect by including country-specific recommendations with regards to problems identified; furthermore asks the Commission to include yearly follow-ups on these matters until the full implementation of such recommendations;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that emergency regimes and decree-laws were urgently instated by governments in several Member States because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that this has affected the functioning of the national justice systems and the activity of the courts; draws attention toregrets the lack of participation and the non-involvement of national parliaments in the decision- making and the closure of parliaments in numerous Member States during the pandemic, which has increased the power of governments and has led to a lack of accountability and transparency;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Underlines that corruption prevention policies cover many fields, typically including ethical rules, awareness-raising measures, rules on asset disclosures, incompatibilities and conflicts of interest, internal control mechanisms, rules on lobbying, and revolving doors; reiterates the role of national measures in preventing fraud and corruption; calls for further corruption prevention measures at the European level including transparency of ownership structures, prohibition of involvement of offshore or shell companies into the spending of European funds; reiterates the role of national measures in preventing fraud and corruption but considers that the EU institutions need to be fully equipped to prevent and investigate fraud and corruption; welcomes the Commission's adoption of the anti-money laundering (AML) package of proposals; calls on the European institutions to be ambitious in their negotiations and to reach an agreement as quickly as possible, particularly on the creation of a new European AML authority with strong direct supervisory powers on the riskiest obliged financial entities and on clear rules on Beneficial Ownership transparency;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Notes with great concern the deteriorating situation of freedom of expression, protection of the right to information, and protection of journalists in 2021 compared to 2020 according to the Media Pluralism Monitor; recalls that media pluralism and media freedom is essential for the protection of the EU’s financial interests as investigative journalism is often at the source of the identification of issues such as corruption, fraud, or conflicts of interest in the use of EU funds;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Deeply regrets the fact that the safety of journalists across the EU has been deteriorating in 20201a; highlights the key role of investigative journalists in the fight against corruption, fraud and illegal activities that negatively impact the EU budget; reiterates in this regard the need to protect investigative journalists from strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) through a strong EU-wide legal framework, as well as against personal harassment, intimidation and threats to life in order to assure freedom of expression and the right to information and safeguard the journalistic profession. _________________ 1ahttps://rm.coe.int/final-version-annual- report-2021-en-wanted-real-action-for- media-freed/1680a2440e
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Is concerned about the Commission’s 2021 Rule of Law Report’s findings that, in some countries, the state- sponsored harassment and intimidation of the LGBTI organisations is affecting their ability to access funding; calls on the Commission to take a closer look at the issue and to make sure that the non- discrimination principle governing the access to EU funds is fully complied with, everywhere in the EU; considers that these findings reinforce the long-standing position of Parliament that the scope of the Rule of Law report should be broadened to include all Article 2 TEU values;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Is deeply concerned about the status of Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal, the close connection between prosecutors and the government (in particular the Public Prosecutor General/Minister of Justice) and the complete disregard for not only EU law requirements, but also European Convention on Human Rights and Polish Constitutional requirements2 ; is further concerned about the impartiality of the judiciary in Hungary3 and the iandependence of the judiciary in signs of weakening of the rule of law in Slovakia, Malta, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Spain4 ; _________________ 2 Petitions No 0559/2020, 1154/2020, 1246/2020, 1360/2020 and 0869/2021. 3 Petition No 1512/2020. 4 Petitions No 1180/2020, 1182/2020, 1326/2020, 1367/2020, 1561/2020 and 0353/2021.
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to use the Commission’s annual rule of law reports and its findings to resolutely fight against systemic corruption and devise all effective instruments available under EU financial legislation and the applicable sector- specific and financial rules for preventing, combating and sanctioning corruption and fighting fraud, as well as for regularly monitoring the use of public funds, including recovery and resilience facility funds.
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses the indispensability of enforcing court sentences, both at national and EU level; condemns all national and regional governments on EU territory that refuse to follow judgments; emphasises that sentences of the Court of Justice of the European Union have to be implemented in a timely manner and as soon as possible in accordance with the Treaties, which the Member States agreed to comply with5 , in particular, those court sentences that seek to prevent discrimination on grounds of sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic characteristics, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation; _________________ 5 Petition No 0858/2017.
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Regrets the fact that that the safety of journalists is not universally guaranteed; underlines the importance of media pluralism and the need to protect journalists against threats and attackskey role of investigative journalists in the fight against corruption, fraud and illegal activities that negatively impact the EU budget; reiterates in this regard the need to protect investigative journalism from strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), as well as personal harassment, intimidation and threats to life in order to assure freedom of expression and the right to information and safeguard the journalistic profession;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Regrets the fact that that the safety of journalists is not universally guaranteed; underlines the importance of media pluralism and the need to protect journalists against threats and attacks in order to prevent self-censorship and to assure freedom of expression and the right to information and safeguard the journalistic profession; calls on the Commission to improve the instruments for assessing measures taken by governments that may undermine freedom of information and pluralism;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Draws attention to the need for better regulation and more transparency regarding social networking sitemedia platforms9 ; takes note of the insufficiency of the horizontal assessment of the media sector and the lack of representation of online media in the Commission’s 2021 Rule of Law report (COM(2121)700); _________________ 9 Petitions No 1336/2020, 0036/2021, 0137/2021, 0691/2021 and 0719/2021.
Amendment 76 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Observes that fake news and the resulting misinformation aimed at EU citizens are a threat to our EU democracies10 ; notes, however, that overly extensive control of false information and the increased promotion of disinformation campaigns may lead, which must be combated with guarantees and without giving rise to any violation of Article 11(1) of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights which guarantees the right to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authorities and regardless of borders11 ; _________________ 10 Petitions No 1310/2019, 0268/2020, 0743/2020 and 1293/2020. 11 Petition No 1336/2020.
Amendment 94 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Stresses that the findings of the Rule of Law report should be operationalised in concrete policy actions and that the report should only serve conjointly with other instruments, such as infringement procedures available under EU financial legislation and the applicable sector-specific and financial rules to effectively protect the EU budget, including interruption of payment deadlines, suspension of payments, financial corrections or exclusion of expenditure from EU financing, infringement procedures under Article 258 TFEU, checks and audits, compliance with Article 61 of the Financial Regulation of the EU, the procedures enshrined in the Conditionality Regulation13 , the rule of law framework and Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union addressing risks to the foundational values of the EU in the Member States; urges the Commission to use its tools more effectively and in a timely manner; asks the Commission to introduce deadlines for the recommendations based on the Rule of Law report; _________________ 13 Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget, OJ L 433I , 22.12.2020, p. 1.