Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
The Chairman
IPOL-COM-LIBE D (2023) 39235
D 311863 09.11.2023
To the Chairperson(s) of the committee(s) concerned
Honourable Chairperson,
Since 2016, the European Parliament has called for a comprehensive and preventive mechanism
in the field of Rule of Law, via an EU mechanism on Democracy, the Rule of Law and
Fundamental Rights (EU DRF Pact).
This position was reinforced by the Parliament resolution of 7 October 2020 on the establishment
of an EU mechanism on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights, that called for a
wide-ranging mechanism, to be governed by an interinstitutional agreement between the
Parliament, the Council and the Commission. This resolution foresees an Annual Monitoring
Cycle on Union Values, covering all aspects of Article 2 TEU and in this context, it recognises the
indispensable role of national parliaments and calls on them to hold public debates and adopt
positions on the outcome of the rule of law monitoring cycles. The resolution also provides for the
organisation of annual interparliamentary debates on the findings of the Annual Report.
On 5 July 2023, the Commission published its fourth annual Rule of Law Report that presents the
state of play of the situation in Member States as regards the rule of law. The Commission has
noted that its report has been discussed with national parliaments.
Against this background, and considering the importance of this issue, the LIBE Committee would
like to
invite Members of national parliaments to an inter-parliamentary committee meeting
on “The situation of the Rule of Law in the EU”.
The meeting is scheduled on
Monday,
4 December 2023, from 14h00 to 17h00,
in the European Parliament premises in Brussels.
The interparliamentary committee meeting will be dedicated to an assessment of the fourth
Commission’s rule of law report with a specific emphasis on combating corruption. The meeting
will serve as a follow up on previous such interparliamentary meetings, including the one which
took place in December 2022, as well as on the Parliament’s resolution of 30 March 2023 on the
Commission’s 2022 Rule of Law Report. The meeting will also serve as input into the ongoing
work on the LIBE own-initiative report on the Commission’s 2023 Rule of Law Report.
In view of the above, this meeting would provide the occasion for in-depth exchange of views on
the rule of law situation in the EU and on the role of national parliaments in the context of the EU
efforts to protect and enforce the Union values. The participation of the Commission and Council
Presidency should also be envisaged to bring the inter-institutional perspective into the
discussions, in line with our institution’s approach for an EU mechanism on democracy, the rule
of law and fundamental rights.
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