Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
The Chairman
IPOL-COM-LIBE D (2024) 31461
D 308085 22.10.2024
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 24 July 2024, the Commission published its fifth 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. To this report the LIBE
committee reacts via an annual own initiative report assessing the state of play and providing
recommendations for the future. As a novelty, the 2024 Rule of Law Report also includes country
chapters on four accession countries – Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – to
support their reform efforts on democracy and the rule of law prior to accession, therefore the
presence of national parliamentarians from these countries is highly welcomed.
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 Thursday, 12
December 2024, from 09.30 to 12.30, in the European Parliament premises in Brussels, followed
by a lunch scheduled between 12h30 and 13h30 on the same day.
The interparliamentary committee meeting will be dedicated to an assessment of the fourth
Commission’s rule of law report with a specific emphasis on checks and balances as pillars of the
Rule of Law and the role of the civil society in this context. It follows previous such
interparliamentary meetings, including the one that took place in December 2023, and the calls
made in the Parliament’s resolution of 28 February 2024 on the Commission’s 2023 Rule of Law
report.
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