The European Commission presents a new procedure to safeguard the rule of law

The mechanism will allow a direct dialogue with the concerned Member State for addressing “systemic threats.” For the future EU justice policy, the Commission wants more “Trust, Mobility and Growth”

Addressing systemic threats to the rule of law in any of the EU’s 28 Member States, acting in case of “adverse effects for the integrity, stability and proper functioning of the institutions and mechanisms established at national level to secure it.” This will be the scope of the new framework, adopted on 12 March and presented in Strasbourg by the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, together with Viviane Reding, EU Justice Commissioner, and Cecilia Malmstrom, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs. The Framework will allow dealing at EU level with potential controversial Constitutional reforms – such as the ones adopted in Hungary and Bulgaria.

In that instance, sort of a “warning mechanism” will be activated, and the Commission will be allowed to enter into a dialogue with the Member State concerned to prevent the escalation of systemic threats to the rule of law. The new rule of law framework will be complementary to infringement procedures – which applies when EU law has been breached by a Member State – and to the so-called ‘Article 7 procedure’ of the Lisbon Treaty which, at its most severe, allows for the suspension of voting rights in case of a “serious and persistent breach” of EU values by a Member State. The European Commission will then be allowed to act with a three-step procedure, before activating the ‘Article 7 procedure’ – defined by President Barroso as the “atomic weapon” against breaches.

“The rule of law is one of the founding pillars of the European Union,” underlined Barroso. “I have systematically pointed to the need for a better framework which allows the Commission to intervene early and transparently in cases of serious and systemic threats to the rule of law in a Member State. Today, the Commission is delivering on this commitment,” he added.

The press conference in Strasbourg has also represented the occasion for the Commission to present its vision for just what that future of justice should look like. The target is the realization, within 2020, of a true European area of Justice, fully implemented, built on trust, mobility and growth. Born in 2010, the Justice Agenda has “made incremental steps” but it still has to face “fundamental challenges”: promoting mutual trust on justice systems of the 28 Member States, removing obstacles to mobility, contributing to economic recovery.

“We have taken steps to develop a true European area of Justice built on mutual trust at the service of our citizens and businesses,” said Viviane Reding. “But we need bigger leaps in the future, after the incremental steps we have taken over the past years. We have laid solid foundations for the promotion of mutual trust, given that trust on judicial decisions is essential to the optimal functioning of a real European area of Justice. Yet, two other challenges need to be addressed: free mobility of European businesses and citizens, and continual contribution of the EU Justice system to economic recovery, growth and tackling unemployment.”

L.P.