Implementation of the rule of law conditionality regime

Wording as published by the EP, in English.

1. Amendment 1Rejected

   Recital B a (new)

   Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Julien Sanchez · PfE

   Added: Ba. whereas Article 4(2) TEU provides that the EU must respect the national identities of the Member States, inherent in their constitutional structures; whereas the Member States have not conferred on the EU the power to conduct a general review of constitutional rules;

2. Amendment 3Rejected

   Recital C a (new)

   Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Julien Sanchez · PfE

   Added: Ca. whereas freedom of expression and the right to information deserve appropriate protection in the EU; whereas a lack of transparency regarding media ownership and public funding, a 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;

3. Amendment 4Rejected

   Recital F a (new)

   Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Julien Sanchez · PfE

   Added: Fa. whereas the Commission President affirmed in a speech on 17 January 2024 that funds for Hungary had been suspended for political reasons regarding LGBTIQ ideology, academic freedom and asylum policy1a; 1a Speech by President von der Leyen at the European Parliament plenary on the conclusions of the European Council meeting of 14-15 December 2023 and preparation of the special European Council meeting of 1 February 2024.

4. Amendment 5Rejected

   Recital G a (new)

   Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Julien Sanchez · PfE

   Added: Ga. whereas the former Commissioner entrusted with negotiating the anti-corruption framework for the rule of law reports is currently under investigation for money laundering and other corruption-related offences; whereas the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) taking part in the Commission’s annual rule of law report procedures were directly funded by the Commission and governments outside the EU; whereas the objectivity and impartiality of these reports are highly questionable;

5. Amendment 6Rejected

   Recital G b (new)

   Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Julien Sanchez · PfE

   Added: Gb. whereas the former Vice-President of the European Commission resigned from her rectorship at the College of Europe as a consequence of recent reports concerning an investigation into suspected fraud related to EU-funded training activities for diplomats, including allegations that may involve procurement fraud, corruption, conflicts of interest, and breaches of professional secrecy, constituting a serious loss of credibility regarding the application of the rule of law by the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies;

6. Amendment 8Rejected

   Paragraph 5 a (new)

   Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Julien Sanchez · PfE

   Added: 5a. 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 refrain from politically motivated actions targeting right-wing, conservative governments or sanctions against Member States that are not in line with the Commission’s agenda; deplores 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;

7. Amendment 9Rejected

   Paragraph 9 a (new)

   Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Julien Sanchez · PfE

   Added: 9a. Recalls that there is no legal definition of ‘rule of law’ in the TEU and that each Member State has its own definition, which may vary from one country to another, contributing to legal uncertainty; deplores the fact that this concept is used arbitrarily, in the absence of a definition and a legal basis;

8. Amendment 10Rejected

   Paragraph 13

   Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Julien Sanchez · PfE

   13. Removed: Regrets that, following the entry into force of the Conditionality Regulation on 1 January 2021, the Commission did not immediately trigger Article 6(1) in reaction to ongoing severe violations of the principles of the rule of law in some Member States, which posed a serious risk to the EU’s financial interests; emphasises Added: Emphasises that in October 2021, following repeated calls on the Commission to act, Parliament launched an action against the Commission before the CJEU Removed: in accordance with Added: pursuant to Article 265 TFEU over its failure to act and apply the Removed: regulation; stresses that timely responses by the Commission, based on clear internal timelines, are essential for protecting the EU budget; Added: regulation, which was later withdrawn; recalls that this action clearly shows that Parliament’s political blackmailing led to the triggering of the rule of law procedure against some Member States;

9. Amendment 12Rejected

   Paragraph 17 a (new)

   Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Julien Sanchez · PfE

   Added: 17a. Recalls that ECA special report 03/2024 concluded that the Commission did not systematically assess and document the impact on the EU’s financial interests for all Member States in which it identified challenges to the rule of law;

10. Amendment 13Rejected

    Paragraph 18 a (new)

    Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Julien Sanchez · PfE

    Added: 18a. Deplores the fact that the Commission assesses the application of the rule of law by the Member States only, and not by the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies 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;

11. Amendment 14Rejected

    Paragraph 18 b (new)

    Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Julien Sanchez · PfE

    Added: 18b. 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;

12. Amendment 15Rejected

    Paragraph 20 a (new)

    Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Julien Sanchez · PfE

    Added: 20a. Condemns the fact that the Commission has clearly demonstrated double standards for Member States when it comes to rule of law standards and has used it in a manner detrimental to Member States with conservative governments; notes that the Commission unfroze the EU funds for Poland following the election of a party belonging to the ruling European political family despite the fact that no new legislation had been adopted; strongly condemns the fact that leaders of right-wing parties have been banned from running for office and persecuted by lawfare; condemns the attempts to imprison political leaders for defending the borders of their respective countries; denounces the physical intimidation and lawfare used against politicians for holding views that challenge the EU mainstream;

13. Amendment 16Rejected

    Paragraph 49 a (new)

    Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Julien Sanchez · PfE

    Added: 49a. Condemns the fact that in December 2022 the Commission decided to exclude Hungarian universities from the Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ programmes, which is disproportionate and harmful, causing Hungarian students, teachers and researchers to suffer a competitive disadvantage; highlights, in that regard, the fact that Hungarian universities’ use of and accountability for EU funds has been transparent for decades; deplores the fact that Hungarian universities have suffered enormous loss both in reputation and financially due to their inability to contract for tenders already won or submitted; calls on the EU institutions to immediately withdraw this discriminative decision;

14. Amendment 17Rejected

    Paragraph 53 a (new)

    Tabled by Tamás Deutsch, Julien Sanchez · PfE

    Added: 53a. 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; deplores the fact 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;