ALDE proposal for a mechanism to monitor democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights embraced by the EP

Met dank overgenomen van S.H. (Sophie) in 't Veld i, gepubliceerd op woensdag 10 juni 2015.

The European Parliament has today adopted a key joint resolution on the situation in Hungary. The paragraph reflecting the ALDE proposal for a mechanism to monitor and enforce fundamental rights, the rule of law and democracy received the support of Parliament. Parliament will outline a legislative proposal for such a mechanism, to contribute to the Commission proposal, as called for in the text.

The European Parliament has today adopted a key joint resolution on the situation in Hungary. The paragraph reflecting the ALDE proposal for a mechanism to monitor and enforce fundamental rights, the rule of law and democracy received the support of Parliament. Parliament will outline a legislative proposal for such a mechanism, to contribute to the Commission proposal, as called for in the text.

Sophie in 't Veld, first vice-president of the ALDE Group: "This is a good day for Europe as a community of values. I am very pleased our proposal for a Democratic Governance Pact was embraced by this House. The European Union needs instruments to enforce the values laid down in the Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. We need to bridge the gap between weak legislative instruments, and the nuclear option of suspension of a member state per Article 7 of the Treaty. Now we expect the Commission to take its responsibility as guardian of the treaties, and put forward a proposal."

The text also asks the Commission to immediately start an in-depth monitoring procedure on the situation of Democracy, Rule of law and Fundamental Rights in Hungary, assessing potentially systemic and serious breaches of EU values and for it to report back to the European Parliament before September 2015.

The resolution condemns repeated statements by the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who instigated a debate on the re-establishment of death penalty in Hungary, and calls for the withdrawing of the xenophobic public consultation on migration. Moreover, this joint resolution:

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    Insists that the death penalty is incompatible with the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights
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    Reminds that a serious breach by a Member States of the values referred to in Article 2 TEU would trigger the Article 7 procedure
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    Believes that all Member States have to fully respect EU law in their legislative and administrative practice
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    Deplores the absence of reaction by the Council and denounces the lack of commitment by Member States in ensuring respect for the rule of law
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    Notes that these recent developments could represent an emerging systematic threat to the rule of law in Hungary

Speaking after the vote, Sophie in 't Veld said: "This is a huge step forward in the fight to defend our European values. I'm delighted the parliament has today endorsed our proposal for an effective instrument to ensure all Member States, not only Hungary, abide by the rules. We have to develop an instrument to carry out an impartial, annual assessment for all Member States. The Democratic Governance Pact (DGP) will do for the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights, what the Stability and Growth Pact now does for the Eurozone."

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