Changes from plenary report to adopted text

RemovedEXPLANATORY STATEMENT

RemovedThis is the first time since its founding that the Parliament has decided to write a report investigating the need to trigger an Article 7(1) TEU procedure. As such, your rapporteur has taken this opportunity to set out the steps taken in reaching the conclusion that there is indeed a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values referred to in Article 2 TEU. In doing so, your rapporteur hopes to help future colleagues who might find themselves facing a similar task.

RemovedThe European Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.

RemovedIf we all share these values, we owe it to ourselves to protect these values whenever they are in jeopardy. The EU is equipped with safeguarding our common values by making use of the process under Article 7 TEU. The scope of this article concerns Union law but also extends to areas where Member States act autonomously.

RemovedYour rapporteur took guidance from the European Commission Communication (COM(2003)606) ‘Respect for and promotion of the values on which the Union is based’. There it says that:

Removed‘The scope of Article 7 is not confined to areas covered by Union law. This means that the Union could act not only in the event of a breach of common values in this limited field but also in the event of a breach in an area where the Member States act autonomously.’ It continues to say: ‘Article 7 thus gives the Union a power of action that is very different from its power to ensure that Member States respect fundamental rights when implementing Union law’.

RemovedYour rapporteur hopes this clarifies the scope of the present report which indeed includes concerns about Hungarian legislation and practice that is not directly or indirectly linked to EU secondary law.

RemovedThe report also refers to cases that have been addressed by the Commission in infringement procedures. Although these infringement cases might have found closure, they are still part of this report as they have had an effect on the overall atmosphere in the country. Individual legislation might have been, by the letter, restored to respect European values, but materially damage has been done. The chilling effect on the freedoms in society of measures executed and afterwards rolled back or put forward but not (yet) implemented are an undeniable part of an Article 7 analysis.

RemovedIn 2011, the Parliament issued its first resolution concerning fundamental rights in Hungary (that time about a new media law). In 2013, an elaborate report ‘on the situation of fundamental rights: standards and practices in Hungary’ was voted on and the Parliament continued to follow the situation. We continued to request action from the Council and the Commission, but without success. Only in 2014, the Commission presented a framework to safeguard the rule of law in the EU. Starting a Rule of Law dialogue with Hungary on the basis of this new mechanism would have been the logical thing to do. As this did not happen, in May 2017 the Parliament instructed the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs to draft this report.

RemovedThe European Parliament is taking action to protect the rule of law in Europe. Over the years the European Parliament and the European Commission addressed many of its concerns as set out in this report, in different ways, with different actions and numerous exchanges with the Hungarian authorities. The European Parliament debated on multiple occasions with the Hungarian prime minister, ministers and other governmental officials. However no substantial changes have been made to safeguard the rule of law in Hungary. Therefore the rapporteur sees no other choice then to pursue an article 7(1) TEU procedure and submits a reasoned proposal inviting the Council to find that there is a clear risk of a serious breach of the rule of law and to make recommendations to Hungary to take actions. It is thus to be noted that this procedure addresses the Council as a whole and not as such the Member State under scrutiny, since the means and possibilities in addressing the latter have been tried without success before moving to an article 7(1) procedure.

RemovedCarefully weighing all the above while trying to include others in this process is not done overnight. Rushing to a vote would not do justice to the process.

RemovedPart of the process is to organise hearings for the European citizens to understand what the situation is, convene thorough meetings with fellow shadow rapporteurs to which external experts from international and European organisations are invited, consult different stakeholders, visit the Member State under scrutiny and invite other committees of the Parliament to get involved and share their opinions following their expertise.

RemovedAfter being mandated by the plenary of the Parliament, your rapporteur took the task of conducting an in-depth analysis and followed this elaborate approach. We have talked and listened to representatives of the Commission, Fundamental Rights Agency, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Venice Commission, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on migration and refugees, Lanzarote Committee, the Hungarian government representatives, a variety of NGOs and academics in Brussels, Strasbourg and Budapest. In a fashion of transparency your rapporteur has attached to this report a list of organisations met in the course of this research. As there was no official delegation visit by the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, your rapporteur undertook her own visit. For future proceedings it is strongly recommended to send a parliamentary delegation to the Member State concerned. One can hardly explain to authorities and citizens of the Member State under scrutiny that the Parliament judges a situation as a clear risk of serious breach of European values as enshrined in the Treaties, without having made the effort of a visit.

RemovedThe drafting of opinions by other parliamentary committees leads to a wider outreach among Members of Parliament, illustrates the shared responsibility and guarantees a more inclusive process. Your rapporteur therefore wants to wholeheartedly thank those committees that are contributing to the final report.

RemovedEvery consideration made is based on opinions issued by third party actors, often bodies of the Council of Europe, United Nations, OSCE and from time to time based on verdicts by national and international courts. Although your rapporteur is thankfully relying on these institutions, it illustrates the hiatus the EU has in researching, analysing and publishing on the state of the democracy, rule of law and respect for fundamental rights in the Member States. Your rapporteur therefore wishes to echo the call of this Parliament upon the Commission to urgently establish an EU mechanism on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights and use it.

RemovedInstitutional constructions, however, will never succeed when there is a lack of political will. The European Union is a project built on shared values and solidarity. European history has been a violent one and the rights of individuals were often trampled on for a so-called greater good. We live 73 years after the end of the Second World War and 29 years after the fall of the Berlin wall. Both experiences are engraved in our collective memory.

RemovedIt is that understanding of the past that has inspired the preamble of the TEU: We draw ‘inspiration from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe, from which have developed the universal values of the inviolable and inalienable rights of the human person, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law, recalling the historic importance of the ending of the division of the European continent and the need to create firm bases for the construction of the future Europe, confirming their attachment to the principles of liberty, democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and of the rule of law.’

RemovedResponsible leaders take account of that heritage and act accordingly. Close friends do not shy away from telling each other the unpleasant truth.

RemovedBased on the process sketched above, your rapporteur sees the need to request the Council to come forward with appropriate measures to restore inclusive democracy, the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights in Hungary.