EU Commission: "The rule of law survived the pandemic

Věra Jourová was a bit relieved on Tuesday.

"The rule of law survived the pandemic," said the Vice President of the EU Commission, responsible for the rule of law, in an interview with six European newspapers, including the FAZ .

She was concerned that governments are overdoing it or using the crisis to further weaken democratic control and civil rights.

Thomas Gutschker

Political correspondent for the European Union, NATO and the Benelux countries based in Brussels.

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In some cases this has happened, but many other states have put their ad hoc measures on a legal basis and have involved their parliaments more closely.

As a result, the annual report on the rule of law in all 27 member states, which the EU Commission presented on Tuesday, contains light and shadow.

Once again, Hungary and Poland come off worst. In both states, against which there are already procedures to review the rule of law, the problems are "systemic in nature" and have arisen over the long term, said Jourová. The Commission underscored this by giving Warsaw an ultimatum on Tuesday. If the government does not recognize the case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) by mid-August, the Commission will apply to the same court for fines - an extraordinary step. In this case, the conflict revolves around the disciplinary chamber of the Polish Supreme Court, which, according to the ECJ, should serve to intimidate or remove judges who are unpopular with politics.

The government, led by the national-conservative PiS party, had its actions confirmed last week by the constitutional court, which also controls it politically.

The judges decided that the ECJ had nothing to say in this case.

In Brussels this is seen as an attack on the European legal order.

Now the moment is approaching when Warsaw will have to pay a price for it.

On top of that, the Commission has not yet approved the reconstruction plans for Poland and Hungary.

"The Commission wants to see written pledges that the payments will be protected," said Jourová.

In practice, of course, both countries have to implement painful reforms.

The media in Hungary under pressure

In addition, after the summer break that follows, the Commission also wants to open the first cases to protect the budget against deficits in the rule of law. This will affect other countries as well. A screening is currently underway, as confirmed by Jourová, which will include the rule of law report. This is about the independence of the judiciary, measures against corruption, freedom and diversity of the media and the division of powers, and this has been in every member state since September 2020.

In the field of justice, the Commission criticizes the composition and functioning of the Supreme Judicial Council in Bulgaria. In Slovakia, although she sees progress on the same issue, questions about judicial independence remain. There are also controversies surrounding the appointment of judges or prosecutors in Croatia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Spain. Reforms that strengthen the judiciary are attested to several states, including the Czech Republic and Malta, two countries that have been viewed critically in Brussels for a long time.

In the fight against corruption, the Commission praises the fact that several countries have launched national action plans. In addition to Bulgaria, Malta, the Czech Republic and Romania, this also includes Hungary, although there it is limited to the public service. In the media field, the Commission sees a “high risk” for the independence of journalists not only in Poland and Hungary, but also in Bulgaria, Malta, Romania and Slovakia. It was like that last year; This is justified with the ownership structure of important media.

For Hungary it is emphasized that the state is the largest advertising customer in the country - from which companies that are close to the government benefit almost exclusively.

The Commission identifies similar trends in Poland.

Mention is also made of the increasing threat to journalists, be it in online forums or at gunpoint.

Jourová therefore wants to present recommendations in September on how protection can be improved.

The role of Germany

Germany does not play a prominent role in most passages of the report, but is mentioned in connection with the ECB ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court. The Commission started infringement proceedings at the beginning of June because, in its view, the judgment violated the primacy of EU law. She points out that the Polish government has expressly invoked this and asked its constitutional court to determine the primacy of the national constitution - a decision is still pending here. Brussels is also struggling with recent decisions in France and Romania that affect individual cases.

In an interview with journalists on Tuesday, Jourová explained why the Commission took its time before launching infringement proceedings in the case of Germany, while it is now reacting faster and tougher to Poland. "All year round, from May 2020 to May 2021, we were in very close contact with the German authorities who were looking for a solution and were very interested in repairing the situation after the Karlsruhe judgment." it is an unwritten law not to initiate proceedings. This was only done when it became clear that the federal government was not making “a sensible proposal”.

In the matter she differentiated as follows: While the ECB ruling was “potentially” dangerous for the entire architecture of the European legal system, the Polish case could already have very negative effects “tomorrow”.