Portugal’s minister of foreign affairs has reaffirmed the
intention of the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU
to move forward with the proceedings against Poland and Hungary
for suspected violations of European values.
Stressing that “the rule of law is one of the fundamental themes
of the programme of the Portuguese presidency of the Council of
the European Union” [EU], Augusto Santos Silva gave assurances
that Portugal will push ahead with proceedings underway against
Poland and Hungary for suspected violations of EU values.
“We have followed up on the joint work, which involved the
in-depth analysis of the second series of five member states
according to their respective rule of law situations.”
The General Affairs Council made this assessment last April, and
we will also move forward with the processes that are underway
under Article 7″, Santos Silva said, at the opening of the
high-level conference on “The Rule of Law in Europe”, organised
by the Portuguese presidency and taking place in Coimbra.
Enshrined in the EU Treaty, Article 7 provides for preventive
measures for “a clear risk of a serious breach of the values of
the EU” and sanctions in cases of “serious and persistent
breaches” of those values, a suspicion that was raised over
Poland in 2017and Hungary in 2018.
The rule of law is also a major theme of the Portuguese
presidency of the Council of the EU in other formations, the
minister added, pointing to the Justice Council, which has been
working on the “application of the Charter of Fundamental
Rights”, and the Social Affairs Council, focused on “inclusion
strategies”, and action plans to “combat discrimination, racism,
anti-Semitism, hate speech”, he pointed out.
This is, therefore, “a theme which cuts across the different
formations of the Council of the EU”, noted Augusto Santos Silva.
“It is a matter for all of us, it is not only a matter for some
and not for others. It is a matter for all of us, first and
foremost, because it is a necessary condition for our membership
of the European Union”, he recalled, given that the rule of law
is one of the fundamental principles of the European project.
Santos Silva said that the 27 member states should “always
scrutinise together, through peer review methods” the state of
the rule of law in each of the countries, underlining the
importance of the European Commission’s annual report in this
area.
The rule of law “is also a subject of interest to all Europeans”,
said the minister, noting that this principle was one of the
“central themes” of the Conference on the Future of Europe, which
opened on 9 May in Strasbourg under the Portuguese presidency of
the Council of the EU.
Portugal, which took over the presidency of the Council of the EU
in January, has pledged to push for progress on the cases opened
against Poland and Hungary.
However, the pandemic has hampered negotiations, as hearings in
the General Affairs Councils must be held in person; otherwise,
they can be challenged before the EU Court of Justice.
The hearings are expected to finally take place at the General
Affairs Council – which brings together the European Affairs
ministers of the 27 – on 22 June.
On 20 April, the Portuguese presidency organised, also within the
General Affairs Council, a debate among the 27 on the situation
of the rule of law in Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain and France,
an initiative launched still during the German presidency in the
second half of 2020, which aims to establish a dialogue among the
countries on the rule of law.
The first dialogue took place at the November General Affairs
Council. Member states examined the rule of law in Belgium,
Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Estonia, following an
alphabetical order that excludes the country in the presidency.
