The European Parliament – the legislative body of the European Union (EU) – has threatened to sue the European Commission – the EU’s executive – for its failure to apply official pressure on countries that are deemed to have fallen foul of the bloc’s values.
The so-called rule-of-law mechanism was adopted last year to link the dispensing of EU funds to countries’ adherence to particular legal norms.
The European Parliament passed resolutions in March and June demanding that this be applied. At issue were particularly Hungary and Poland, which have faced criticism on such matters as a lack of respect for judicial independence and the protection of the rights of gay and transgendered people. In its June resolution, it set a two-month deadline for the Commission to act.
The threat to take legal action came from the President of the Parliament, David Sassoli, in a letter to the Commission as the deadline loomed.
Poland and Hungary had, however, demanded that the application of the mechanism be subject to strict guidelines and a ruling by the European Court of Justice.
The President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, responded to the Parliament by saying that it was not clear which cases the Parliament wanted it to act on. She added that the Commission was conducting a study to determine a course of action.
MEP Sophie in’t Veld, a Dutch member of the Parliament, commented on Twitter that the response was ‘not only an insult to Parliament, but an insult to European citizens.’
The EU leadership has clashed with Poland and Hungary for some time. The latter countries’ governments have adopted ‘populist’ stances which are often viewed as departing from the EU’s normative framework. Poland and Hungary have defended their positions as the outcomes of legitimate democratic choice.
Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro has said that the EU is engaged in a ‘hybrid war’ against his country. ‘What is the EU telling us?’ he said, ‘That Poles cannot, via democratic elections, implement real reforms of the justice system.’