Activities of Margrete AUKEN related to 2021/2180(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the Commission’s 2021 Rule of Law report
Amendments (12)
Amendment 6 #
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, as deficiencies in one Member State impact other Member States and the Union as a whole;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Underlines the importance of the recommendations of the Parliament enshrined in its resolution of 24 June 2021 on the Commission’s 2020 Rule of Law Report; notes with regret that the Commission did not adequately address all these recommendations in its 2021 Rule of Law Report and did not sufficiently cover all rule of law issues;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Considers that the overall Commission's method of assessing the situation of the Rule of law in the EU can be highly improved; calls on the Commission to differentiate its reporting by distinguishing between systemic breaches of the rule of law and isolated breaches as presenting deficiencies or breaches of a different nature in an equal manner can lead to underestimate the most serious breaches of the rule of law;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Points to the high amount of petitions1 in relation to the impact and challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic; calls for an investigation into whethercontinuing the scrutiny of COVID-19-related measures weto ensure they are limited in time and whether theircomply with the principles of necessity and proportionality was justified; requests anto the health risks; requests the Commission to fully report the outcomes of its assessment of the checks and balances during the pandemic, especially given that courts in several Member States have already ruled that certain measures were not consistent with the national constitution; underlines the need to have a clear legal regime in place before a crisis; _________________ 1 Petitions No 1438/2020, 1469/2020, 1493/2020, 1501/2020, 0038/2021, 0046/2021, 0053/2021, 0106/2021, 0152/2021, 0186/2021 and 0533/2021.
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. ICriticises the fact that the report failed to clearly recognise the deliberate process of the rule of law backsliding in Poland and Hungary; strongly regrets the failure of the Council to make progress by applying sanctions in the ongoing procedures under Article 7 TEU; 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 independence of the judiciary in 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 48 #
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 followcompetent authorities at all levels on EU territory that do not consistently comply with 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 ; _________________ 5 Petition No 0858/2017.respect;
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Invites the Commission to take measures to strengthen corruption prevention6 in order to create morefull transparency in administration and improveensure full access to information about lobbying and oversight of political party financing; _________________ 6 Petitions No 0822/2020 and 0194/2020.
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Regrets the fact that that the safety of journalists is not universally guaranteed and that strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), often in combination with threats to physical safety, still represent a serious concern in several Member States; is particularly worried that online threats are on the rise across the EU, with female journalists and journalists of minority background particularly at risks; underlines the importance of media pluralism and the need to protect journalists against threats and attacks in order to assure freedom of expression and the right to information and safeguard the journalistic profession;
Amendment 82 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Is concerned about the increase in hate crimes against minorities, in particular those related to religious belcluding religious minorities, Romani people and other persons belonging to ethnic and linguistic minoritiefs, political ideas and sexual orientation12 ; is aware of the difficult balance between hate speech and freedom of expression and acknowledges that the boundaries are hard to definemigrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and LGBTI+ persons12; is deeply worried that International and national human rights bodies underlined the growing rate of hate speech online, often perpetrated by political figures, targeting minorities; _________________ 12 Petitions No 0354/2020, 0657/2020, 1038/2020, 0471/2021, 0480/2021, 0667/2021, 0704/2021, 0725/2021, 0820/2021, 0855/2021 and 0894/2021.
Amendment 89 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Amendment 93 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Stresses that the findings of theCommission's annual Rule of Law report and its findings should be operationalised in concrete policy actions and that the report should only serve conjointly with other instruments, such as infringement procedurein order to make full and effective use of all tools available at Union level to address breaches of the rule of law, such as infringement procedures, including expedited procedures, applications for interim measures before the CJEU and actions regarding non-implementation of CJEU judgments, the procedures enshrined in the Conditionality Regulation13 , the rule of law framework and Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union; 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 thein its subsequent reports country-specific recommendations accompanied by deadlines for implementation, targets and concrete actions to be taken; emphasises citizens’ high expectations highlighted in petitions asking for a swift and effective Union level response to put an end to breaches of 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.
Amendment 100 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Underlines that the role of civil society organisations is of particular importance; calls on the Commission to foster debatesstrengthen the regular, inclusive and structured dialogue with civil society organisations in order to take note of all their concerns and involve them more effectively in follow-up meetings; highlights the need to offerall phases of the review cycle; highlights the need to allow multilingual submissions and ensure thematically structured consultations to increase the efficiency of the process and the amount of valuable feedback as well as longer consultation periods to guarantee proper participation of all civil society organisations.;