Promoting and safeguarding the EU’s values

KEY POINTS

2019 communication

A communication, issued in July 2019, sets out the European Commission’s blueprint for action – concrete initiatives grouped around three themes.

• Promoting a rule-of-law culture to strengthen cooperation with the Council of Europe, including the Venice Commission and the Group of States against Corruption, along with other international organisations such as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
• Preventing rule-of-law problems by setting up a rule-of-law review cycle, including an annual rule-of-law report covering all Member States (see below).
• Responding effectively to breaches of the rule of law by continuing to make full use of the Commission’s enforcement powers as a guardian of the treaties, to ensure the respect of EU law requirements relating to the rule of law. The Commission will pursue a strategic approach to infringement proceedings relating to the rule of law, requesting expedited procedures and interim measures whenever necessary to promote the standards developed in the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The communication builds upon a framework for addressing systemic threats to the rule of law in any of the Member States, adopted by the Commission in 2014. This framework is complementary to infringement procedures launched when EU law has been breached and to the Article 7 TEU procedure, which, at its most severe, allows for the suspension of voting rights in the Council in the event of a serious and persistent breach of EU values by a Member State. It also frames how the Commission enters into a dialogue with the Member State concerned to prevent the escalation of systemic threats to the rule of law. In preparing its assessment of the situation, the Commission can draw on the expertise of other EU institutions and international organisations.

Rule-of-law mechanism

Following on from the blueprint set out in 2019, as part of the annual rule-of-law review cycle, the Commission has published annual reports on the rule of law in 2020, 2021 and 2022. The purpose of the cycle is to promote the rule of law in all Member States and to prevent challenges from emerging or deepening. Each report focuses on four key elements:

• justice systems (their independence, quality and efficiency);
• the anti-corruption framework (legal and institutional set-up, prevention, repressive measures);
• media pluralism and media freedom (regulatory bodies, transparency of ownership and governmental interference, protection of journalists); and
• other institutional issues linked to checks and balances (legislative process, independent authorities, accessibility, judicial review, civil society organisations).

The reports each include a chapter for each Member State and analyse new developments in the reporting period along with the follow-up to the challenges and developments identified in the previous report. Beginning with the 2022 report, the Commission has included recommendations to the Member States.