“Today’s agreement is a milestone for protecting EU values,” co-rapporteur Petri Sarvamaa (EPP, Finland) said after negotiations concluded. “For the first time, we have established a mechanism that enables the EU to stop funding governments that disrespect our values such as the rule of law.”
This is a big move for the European Union, especially after “overwhelming evidences” that some countries, including Poland and Hungary, are breaching fundamental rights. Both have come in for scathing criticism from Brussels for moves seen to erode judicial independence and undermine rules on migration.
The “provisional agreement” announced by the European Council overcomes the parliament’s steadfast refusal to approve the 1.1-trillion-euro EU budget - and another 750 billion euros in virus relief - unless such a condition was applied.
“European citizens expect us to condition the disbursement of EU funds to the respect of rule of law. The mechanism agreed today does exactly that”, concluded co-rapporteur Eider Gardiazabal Rubial (S&D, Spain).
A broader concept of breaches of the rule of law
MEPs succeeded in ensuring that the new law does not only apply when EU funds are misused directly, such as cases of corruption or fraud. It will also apply to systemic aspects linked to EU fundamental values that all member states must respect, such as freedom, democracy, equality, and respect for human rights including the rights of minorities.
Parliament’s negotiators also insisted that tax fraud and tax evasion are considered possible breaches, by including both individual cases and widespread and recurrent issues.
Moreover, they succeeded in securing a specific Article that clarifies the possible scope of the breaches by listing examples of cases, such as threatening the independence of the judiciary, failing to correct arbitrary/unlawful decisions, and limiting legal remedies.
Protecting final beneficiaries
To ensure that the final beneficiaries who depend on the EU support – such as students, farmers, or NGOs – are not punished for the actions of their governments, MEPs insisted that they can file a complaint to the Commission via a web platform, which will assist them in ensuring they receive the due amounts. The Commission will also have the possibility to make a financial correction by reducing the next instalment of EU support to the respective country in question.
The agreed compromise now needs to be adopted formally by the Parliament and EU ministers.
