BETA


2021/2711(RSP) Resolution on the rule of law situation in the European Union and the application of the Conditionality Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092

Progress: Procedure completed

Legal Basis:
RoP 132-p2

Events

2021/06/10
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2021/06/10
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 506 votes to 150, with 28 abstentions, a resolution on the rule of law situation in the European Union and the application of the Conditionality Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092.

Parliament reiterated its position on the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation , which entered into force on 1 January 2021 and is directly applicable in its entirety in the European Union and all its Member States for all funds of the EU budget.

The Commission must act swiftly to enforce the cross-compliance regulation

Members believe that the situation regarding respect for the principles of the rule of law in some Member States warrants immediate recourse to the rule of law conditionality regulation. They urged the Commission to react swiftly to the continuing serious violations of the rule of law in these Member States and to analyse the need to trigger the procedure provided for in the conditionality regulation without delay.

According to Article 5 of the conditionality regulation, ‘the Commission must verify whether the applicable law has been respected and, where necessary, take all appropriate measures to protect the Union budget’. Members called on the Commission to immediately fulfil its obligation under the regulation to inform Parliament of any written notification to the Member States concerned, setting out the facts and specific grounds for breaches of the rule of law or any ongoing investigations. To date, however, Parliament has not received any such information regarding a notification.

Parliament regretted the absence of any written notification from the Commission to the Member States since the entry into force of the regulation, despite the many concerns about breaches of the rule of law identified in the Commission's 2020 Rule of Law Report, as well as the existence of two ongoing Article 7 procedures, which have an impact on the sound financial management of the EU budget and remain unresolved by the Member States.

Towards possible legal proceedings against the Commission

Members recalled that in its resolution of 25 March 2021 , Parliament gave the Commission a concrete deadline. Regretting that the Commission had not responded to Parliament's requests by 1 June 2021 and had not activated the procedure provided for in the rule of law conditionality regulation in the most obvious cases of violation of the rule of law in the Union, Members considered that this was a sufficient basis for legal action against the Commission under Article 265 TFEU.

Parliament called on its President to call on the Commission within two weeks to ‘fulfil its obligations’ regarding the rule of law conditionality regulation. In the meantime, Parliament should immediately start the ‘necessary preparations for potential court proceedings’ under Article 265 TFEU against the Commission.

Making use of all instruments

Parliament regretted that the Council was unable to make meaningful progress in enforcing the EU’s values in ongoing Article 7 procedures in response to the threats to common European values in Poland and Hungary. It recommended that the Council address concrete recommendations to the Member States in question and set deadlines for the implementation of these recommendations.

The Commission is called upon to use all tools at its disposal, including the regulation, to also combat persistent violations of democracy and fundamental rights throughout the Union, including attacks on media freedom and journalists, migrants, women's rights, LGBTIQ rights, and freedom of association and assembly.

Members recalled that Parliament had the right to vote on a motion of censure on the Commission and that it has the possibility to react to the Council's lack of cooperation. They called on the other institutions to cooperate rather than obstruct efforts to resolve the current crisis.

Documents
2021/06/10
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2021/06/09
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2021/06/08
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2021/06/08
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
2021/06/08
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents

Documents

Activities

Votes

Situation de l’état de droit dans l’Union européenne et application du règlement (UE, Euratom) 2020/2092 relatif à la conditionnalité - Rule of Law situation in the European Union and the application of the conditionality regulation 2020/2092 - Lage der Rechtsstaatlichkeit in der Europäischen Union und Anwendung der Konditionalitätsverordnung (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 - B9-0319/2021 - Proposition de résolution #

2021/06/10 Outcome: +: 506, -: 150, 0: 28
DE ES FR RO PT NL SE EL BG IE DK BE FI HR LT AT CZ IT SK LU MT SI EE CY LV PL HU
Total
93
59
77
33
21
26
20
21
17
13
14
20
13
12
10
18
20
73
14
6
6
8
7
6
7
50
20
icon: PPE PPE
170

Denmark PPE

For (1)

1

Luxembourg PPE

2

Malta PPE

2

Slovenia PPE

For (1)

4

Estonia PPE

For (1)

1
2

Latvia PPE

2
icon: S&D S&D
141

Greece S&D

2

Belgium S&D

2

Finland S&D

1

Lithuania S&D

2

Czechia S&D

For (1)

1

Slovakia S&D

Against (1)

3

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1
4

Slovenia S&D

2

Estonia S&D

2

Cyprus S&D

2

Latvia S&D

2
icon: Renew Renew
96
3

Ireland Renew

2

Finland Renew

3

Croatia Renew

For (1)

1

Lithuania Renew

1

Austria Renew

For (1)

1

Italy Renew

2

Luxembourg Renew

2

Slovenia Renew

2

Estonia Renew

3

Hungary Renew

2
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
71

Spain Verts/ALE

3

Portugal Verts/ALE

1

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3

Sweden Verts/ALE

3

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Denmark Verts/ALE

2

Belgium Verts/ALE

3

Finland Verts/ALE

3

Lithuania Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Czechia Verts/ALE

2

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Poland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: The Left The Left
39

Portugal The Left

4

Netherlands The Left

For (1)

1

Sweden The Left

For (1)

1

Denmark The Left

1

Belgium The Left

Abstain (1)

1

Finland The Left

For (1)

1

Czechia The Left

Abstain (1)

1

Cyprus The Left

2
icon: NI NI
37

Germany NI

Against (1)

3

Croatia NI

Against (1)

2

Lithuania NI

Abstain (1)

1

Slovakia NI

2
icon: ECR ECR
60

Romania ECR

Against (1)

1

Netherlands ECR

4
3

Greece ECR

Against (1)

1

Bulgaria ECR

2

Croatia ECR

Against (1)

1

Lithuania ECR

Against (1)

1

Slovakia ECR

Abstain (1)

1

Latvia ECR

2
icon: ID ID
70

Netherlands ID

Against (1)

1

Denmark ID

Abstain (1)

1

Finland ID

2

Austria ID

3

Czechia ID

Against (2)

2

Estonia ID

Against (1)

1

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

docs/3
date
2021-11-03T00:00:00
docs
url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=56667&j=0&l=en title: SP(2021)570
type
Commission response to text adopted in plenary
body
EC
events/1/docs/0/url
Old
https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=56667&l=en
New
https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=56665&l=en
docs/3
date
2021-11-03T00:00:00
docs
url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=56667&j=0&l=en title: SP(2021)570
type
Commission response to text adopted in plenary
body
EC
docs/3
date
2021-06-10T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2021-0287_EN.html title: T9-0287/2021
type
Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
body
EP
events/1
date
2021-06-10T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2021-0287_EN.html title: T9-0287/2021
events/1
date
2021-06-10T00:00:00
type
Results of vote in Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=56667&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
events/2
date
2021-06-10T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2021-0287_EN.html title: T9-0287/2021
events/2/summary
  • The European Parliament adopted by 506 votes to 150, with 28 abstentions, a resolution on the rule of law situation in the European Union and the application of the Conditionality Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092.
  • Parliament reiterated its position on the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation , which entered into force on 1 January 2021 and is directly applicable in its entirety in the European Union and all its Member States for all funds of the EU budget.
  • The Commission must act swiftly to enforce the cross-compliance regulation
  • Members believe that the situation regarding respect for the principles of the rule of law in some Member States warrants immediate recourse to the rule of law conditionality regulation. They urged the Commission to react swiftly to the continuing serious violations of the rule of law in these Member States and to analyse the need to trigger the procedure provided for in the conditionality regulation without delay.
  • According to Article 5 of the conditionality regulation, ‘the Commission must verify whether the applicable law has been respected and, where necessary, take all appropriate measures to protect the Union budget’. Members called on the Commission to immediately fulfil its obligation under the regulation to inform Parliament of any written notification to the Member States concerned, setting out the facts and specific grounds for breaches of the rule of law or any ongoing investigations. To date, however, Parliament has not received any such information regarding a notification.
  • Parliament regretted the absence of any written notification from the Commission to the Member States since the entry into force of the regulation, despite the many concerns about breaches of the rule of law identified in the Commission's 2020 Rule of Law Report, as well as the existence of two ongoing Article 7 procedures, which have an impact on the sound financial management of the EU budget and remain unresolved by the Member States.
  • Towards possible legal proceedings against the Commission
  • Members recalled that in its resolution of 25 March 2021 , Parliament gave the Commission a concrete deadline. Regretting that the Commission had not responded to Parliament's requests by 1 June 2021 and had not activated the procedure provided for in the rule of law conditionality regulation in the most obvious cases of violation of the rule of law in the Union, Members considered that this was a sufficient basis for legal action against the Commission under Article 265 TFEU.
  • Parliament called on its President to call on the Commission within two weeks to ‘fulfil its obligations’ regarding the rule of law conditionality regulation. In the meantime, Parliament should immediately start the ‘necessary preparations for potential court proceedings’ under Article 265 TFEU against the Commission.
  • Making use of all instruments
  • Parliament regretted that the Council was unable to make meaningful progress in enforcing the EU’s values in ongoing Article 7 procedures in response to the threats to common European values in Poland and Hungary. It recommended that the Council address concrete recommendations to the Member States in question and set deadlines for the implementation of these recommendations.
  • The Commission is called upon to use all tools at its disposal, including the regulation, to also combat persistent violations of democracy and fundamental rights throughout the Union, including attacks on media freedom and journalists, migrants, women's rights, LGBTIQ rights, and freedom of association and assembly.
  • Members recalled that Parliament had the right to vote on a motion of censure on the Commission and that it has the possibility to react to the Council's lack of cooperation. They called on the other institutions to cooperate rather than obstruct efforts to resolve the current crisis.
docs/3
date
2021-06-10T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2021-0287_EN.html title: T9-0287/2021
type
Text adopted by Parliament, single reading
body
EP
events/1
date
2021-06-10T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2021-0287_EN.html title: T9-0287/2021
events/2
date
2021-06-10T00:00:00
type
End of procedure in Parliament
body
EP
forecasts
  • date: 2021-06-10T00:00:00 title: Vote in plenary scheduled
procedure/stage_reached
Old
Awaiting plenary debate/vote
New
Procedure completed
events
  • date: 2021-06-09T00:00:00 type: Debate in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CRE-9-2021-06-09-TOC_EN.html title: Debate in Parliament
forecasts/0
date
2021-06-09T00:00:00
title
Debate in plenary scheduled
procedure/title
Old
Rule of Law situation in the European Union and the application of the conditionality regulation 2020/2092
New
Resolution on the rule of law situation in the European Union and the application of the Conditionality Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092
docs
  • date: 2021-06-08T00:00:00 docs: url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-9-2021-0317_EN.html title: B9-0317/2021 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
  • date: 2021-06-08T00:00:00 docs: url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-9-2021-0319_EN.html title: B9-0319/2021 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
  • date: 2021-06-08T00:00:00 docs: url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-9-2021-0320_EN.html title: B9-0320/2021 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
commission
  • body: EC dg: Secretariat-General commissioner: REYNDERS Didier
forecasts/0/date
Old
2021-06-08T00:00:00
New
2021-06-09T00:00:00
forecasts/1
date
2021-06-10T00:00:00
title
Vote in plenary scheduled
forecasts/0
date
2021-06-08T00:00:00
title
Debate in plenary scheduled
forecasts/0
date
2021-06-07T00:00:00
title
Indicative plenary sitting date