The Commission’s 2024 Rule of Law report

Wording as published by the EP, in English.

1. Amendment 1Adopted

   Paragraph 57

   Tabled by Ana Catarina Mendes, rapporteur · rapporteur

   … Member States and have a negative impact on children, families and workers; Added: welcomes the CJEU’s opinion of 5 June 2025 stating that it considers Hungary to be in violation of EU law in prohibiting or restricting access to LGBTIQ+ content; highlights the negative impact of such measures on the freedom of expression …

2. Amendment 3Adopted

   Paragraph 5

   Tabled by Javier Zarzalejos, Manfred Weber, Esteban González Pons +87 · Members

   … prosecutors as a key factor in maintaining public confidence in criminal justice; Added: highlights its concern about repeated attacks on judges and prosecutors who are conducting high-profile political investigations linked to cases of corruption and abuse of power perpetrated against political opponents;

3. Amendment 4Rejected

   Recital A a (new)

   Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Csaba Dömötör, Viktória Ferenc +81 · Members

   Added: Aa. whereas Article 5(3) TEU states that ‘under the principle of subsidiarity, in areas which do not fall within its exclusive competence, the Union shall act only if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States’;

4. Amendment 5Rejected

   Recital A b (new)

   Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Csaba Dömötör, Viktória Ferenc +81 · Members

   Added: Ab. whereas freedom of expression and the right to information lack appropriate levels of protection in the EU; whereas the lack of transparency of media ownership and public funding, the lack of independence of editorials from commercial and political influence, and viability problems due to financial needs constitute a risk to the right to information; whereas the promotion of legal content moderation and fact-checking by non-independent associations constitutes an outright attack on freedom of expression;

5. Amendment 6Rejected

   Paragraph 1 a (new)

   Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Csaba Dömötör, Viktória Ferenc +81 · Members

   Added: 1a. Regrets the fact that the Commission assesses the application of the rule of law by the Member States only, and not by the EU institutions themselves; underlines that there are plenty of alleged breaches of the rule of law by the EU institutions, not least by the Commission, that require proper scrutiny;

6. Amendment 7Rejected

   Paragraph 3

   Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Csaba Dömötör, Viktória Ferenc +81 · Members

   3. Stresses the need for the impartiality of Removed: judges; Added: prosecutors and judges; emphasises that the political or personal opinions of these practitioners must not influence court rulings, and that otherwise, there is a risk of politicising the judiciary and of interfering with democratic and electoral processes; recalls that the appointment and promotion of judges must be determined solely …

7. Amendment 8Rejected

   Paragraph 11 a (new)

   Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Csaba Dömötör, Viktória Ferenc +81 · Members

   Added: 11a. Notes that the Commission’s annual rule of law report has shown clear political bias in recent years; regrets the fact that the report does not present an objective and substantiated picture of the rule of law situation in the Member States; highlights the fact that this report cannot serve as a basis for any further EU mechanisms or procedures; regrets that the Commission includes inputs from NGOs funded by the EU itself and, more worryingly, in some cases by non-EU governments when drafting its annual rule of law report;

8. Amendment 9Rejected

   Paragraph 47 a (new)

   Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Csaba Dömötör, Viktória Ferenc +81 · Members

   Added: 47a. Notes with concern recent revelations in the ‘green lobby scandal’ on the use of EU funds by the Commission to interfere with the EU legislative branch in seeking support for the European Green Deal; calls, in this regard, for a thorough investigation of the case, and for the recovery of all the taxpayers’ money that was unduly spent;

9. Amendment 10Rejected

   Paragraph 47 b (new)

   Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Csaba Dömötör, Viktória Ferenc +81 · Members

   Added: 47b. Condemns the use of CSOs and HRDs to implement the foreign agendas of non-EU state and non-state actors; stresses that the Commission should not rely on foreign-funded organisations when designing new policies, as their objectives do not necessarily align with those of the EU and of its Member States;

10. Amendment 11Rejected

    Paragraph 47 c (new)

    Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Csaba Dömötör, Viktória Ferenc +81 · Members

    Added: 47c. Expresses deep concern about the lack of transparency of CSOs, especially regarding their funding; recalls the special report No 35/2018 by the European Court of Auditors, which highlighted the lack of transparency regarding the implementation of EU funds by CSOs; emphasises the consequent risk of money laundering and terrorist financing through non-profit organisations;

11. Amendment 12Rejected

    Paragraph 50 a (new)

    Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Csaba Dömötör, Viktória Ferenc +81 · Members

    Added: 50a. Is concerned that the Commission has used EU taxpayers’ money to skew public debate on the European Green Deal by providing substantial funding to environmental organisations tasked with promoting this policy;

12. Amendment 13Rejected

    Paragraph 61 a (new)

    Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Csaba Dömötör, Viktória Ferenc +77 · Members

    Added: 61a. Stresses the importance of the effectiveness of the system for returning illegally staying third-country nationals; highlights the need to make more ambitious proposals to ensure that all return decisions issued by the Member States are immediately executed, and to establish new sanctions and/or tariffs on non-cooperative third countries;

13. Amendment 14Rejected

    Paragraph 70 a (new)

    Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Csaba Dömötör, Viktória Ferenc +81 · Members

    Added: 70a. Notes with concern the Commission’s politically biased monitoring of rule of law benchmarks through the rule of law toolbox; calls on the Commission to stop political attacks against right-wing, conservative governments; regrets the fact that the Commission is abusing rule of law conditionality to withhold EU funds from governments on a political basis and is thereby violating the principle of sincere cooperation enshrined in the Treaties; calls on the Commission to adhere to the principle of sincere cooperation with the governments of all Member States, irrespective of their political leaning; calls on the Commission to release the remaining EU funds to which Hungary is rightfully entitled;

14. Amendment 15Rejected

    Paragraph 74 a (new)

    Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Csaba Dömötör, Viktória Ferenc +81 · Members

    Added: 74a. Deplores the double standards exhibited by the Commission when it overtly terminated the Article 7 TEU procedure against Poland after what it deemed to be a politically favourable election outcome in 2023, despite the fact that most elements of the action plan have not even been initiated by the Polish Government yet; underlines the fact that the Article 7 procedure against Hungary has been ongoing for seven years without any outcome; calls on the Council to swiftly terminate the Article 7 procedure against Hungary;

15. Amendment 16Rejected

    Paragraph 79

    Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Csaba Dömötör, Viktória Ferenc +81 · Members

    79. Removed: Expresses concern that the suspension of EU funds could be misused as a political weapon against civil society and local authorities; recalls that the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation ensures that final recipients should not lose access to EU funds if sanctions are applied to their government; calls for ‘smart conditionality’ that would enable national governments undermining the rule of law to be bypassed by allocating decommitted EU funds directly to local and regional authorities and Added: Deplores attempts to bypass national governments by introducing the notion of ‘smart conditionality’, which would violate the MFF; stresses the democratic legitimacy of Member States’ governments, as opposed to non-governmental organisations Removed: and businesses that comply with EU law, as well as by simplifying the reallocation of funds intended for the benefit of the Member State in question to other EU programmes; proposes the establishment of a transparent system for local authorities to request EU funds when national governments block or misuse EU funds; stresses the importance of strictly applying the conditionality mechanisms as enshrined in the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance and in the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans in a transparent manner; Added: (NGOs) and CSOs that do not have the same legitimacy and do not contribute to the EU’s budget;

16. Amendment 17Rejected

    Paragraph 89 a (new)

    Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Csaba Dömötör, Viktória Ferenc +81 · Members

    Added: 89a. Notes with concern the increasing interference in the Member States’ social, economic, academic, medical and political spheres by foreign-funded, fundamentalist religious organisations such as the Muslim Brotherhood;