• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • TikTok
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
CDE Almería – Centro de Documentación Europea – Universidad de Almería

CDE Almería - Centro de Documentación Europea - Universidad de Almería

Centro de Documentación Europea de la Universidad de Almería

  • HOME
  • WHAT´S ON
    • EU NEWS
    • Activities
    • EU Calls and Awards
    • Radio Program «Europe with You»
  • DOCUMENTATION
    • Bibliographic Collection
      • Almería EDC Digital Collection
      • UNIVERSITY OF ALMERIA LIBRARY
    • Documentation by topic
    • EU Media Collection
      • Web Space
      • MEDIATHEQUE REPOSITORY
  • Europe on the net
    • Institutions
    • EU Representation in Spain
    • European information network of Andalusia
  • ABOUT US
    • Presentation
    • People
    • Contact
  • Spanish
  • English

Breaches of EU values: how the EU can act

Inicio » Noticias UE » Asuntos Institucionales » International Politics and Cooperation » Breaches of EU values: how the EU can act

7 de October de 2022

The EU has tools to protect its values and budget when there is a risk of a breach from a member state. Find out how these mechanisms work.

european union and hungary flag

The European Union is based on common values that bind countries and people together. These values are set out at the very start of the Treaty on European Union, in Article 2. They include respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights.

A breach of EU values by a member state justifies a reaction at EU level.

What is the rule of law?

The rule of law is one of the EU values and a key principle in democratic states as it helps ensure fairness and transparency, among others.

The principle of the rule of law means that governments should be bound by law, that they should not take arbitrary decisions and that citizens should be able to challenge their actions in independent courts.

It also enshrines the fight against corruption, which unfairly favours some to the detriment of others, and the safeguarding of media freedom, thus ensuring the public is properly informed about the work of government.

In recent years the European Parliament has been sounding the alarm about the worsening situation concerning the rule of law in some EU countries, such as Hungary. MEPs have been taking action and repeatedly calling on the European Commission and member states to protect EU values and the budget.

The Article 7 procedure

The procedure under Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union was introduced by the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997. It includes two mechanisms for protecting EU values:

  • Preventive measures, if there is a clear risk of a breach of EU values
  • Sanctions, if such a breach has already occurred.

Possible sanctions against the EU country concerned are not clearly defined in the EU treaties, but might include suspending voting rights in the Council and the European Council.

For both mechanisms, the final decision needs to be taken by representatives of member states in the Council. The thresholds to reach a decision are different:

  • For the preventive mechanism, a decision in the Council requires a majority of four fifths of member states.
  • To determine the existence of a breach, unanimity among EU heads of state and government is required.

The EU country concerned does not take part in either vote.

Protecting EU values. How Article 7 works (Disponible en Español)

Rules to protect the EU budget

In 2020, MEPs approved a regulation designed to protect EU funds from being misused by member states – this is known as the rule of law conditionality mechanism. Parliament pushed for it to not only apply when EU funds are misused directly, such as cases of corruption or fraud, but also when systemic breaches of fundamental values risk affecting the management of EU funds.

This means respecting the rule of law and other values is a condition for member states to obtain EU funds, as money can be withheld from countries in which established breaches of the rule of law compromise management of EU funds.

Other measures

If the Commission is of the view that a member state is violating EU law, which means not applying the rules agreed at EU level, it can start infringement proceedings before the European Court of Justice that may lead to financial sanctions against the country.

The Parliament is paying close attention to the rule of law situation in EU countries, preparing reports that highlight the problems and call for action, including the report on fundamental rights in 2020 and 2021.

Since 2020, the Commission publishes an annual rule of law report that monitors both positive and negative developments relating to the rule of law in all member states.

Hungary can no longer be considered a full democracy by the European Parliament

Source: Press release – European Parliament 

Publicaciones relacionadas:

SOTEU Ursula Von der Leyen EuropaSOTEU 2020: President Von der Leyen sets the course for Europe EU-US: A new transatlantic agenda for global change Nearly 70 billion euros in Spain’s Recovery Plan Ministers and Vice-Ministers from seven Latin American countries set up the Latin American Internal Security Committee EU statements on trials and sentences in Cuba

“This is a space for debate. All comments, for or against publication, that are respectful and do not contain expressions that are discriminatory, defamatory or contrary to current legislation will be published”.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Statement by Vice-President Josep Borrell on the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winners

Publicaciones relacionadas

SOTEU Ursula Von der Leyen EuropaSOTEU 2020: President Von der Leyen sets the course for Europe EU-US: A new transatlantic agenda for global change Nearly 70 billion euros in Spain’s Recovery Plan Ministers and Vice-Ministers from seven Latin American countries set up the Latin American Internal Security Committee EU statements on trials and sentences in Cuba

Footer

Logotipo en negativo del Centro de Documentación Europea de Almería
  • CDE Almería
  • Edificio Parque Científico-Tecnológico (Pita)
  • Planta: 1ª, Despacho: 2904120.
  • Ctra. Sacramento s/n. Almería (Spain)
  • Teléfono: (+34) 950 015266

HOME
NEWS
DOCUMENTATION
EUROPE ON THE NET
ABOUT US

  • LEGAL NOTICE
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • COOKIE POLICY
  • ACCESSIBILITY
  • SITEMAP

Copyright © 2023 CDE Almería · Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

<p>El Centro de Documentación Europea de la Universidad de Almería utiliza cookies propias y de terceros para facilitar al usuario la navegación en su página Web y el acceso a los distintos contenidos alojados en la misma. Asimismo, se utilizan cookies analíticas de terceros para medir la interacción de los usuarios con el sitio Web. Pinche el siguiente enlace si desea información sobre el uso de cookies y como deshabilitarlas. ajustes</p>

Politica de privacidad

El Centro de Documentación Europea de la Universidad de Almería utiliza cookies propias y de terceros para facilitar al usuario la navegación en su página Web y el acceso a los distintos contenidos alojados en la misma. Asimismo, se utilizan cookies analíticas de terceros para medir la interacción de los usuarios con el sitio Web. Pinche el siguiente enlace si desea información sobre el uso de cookies y como deshabilitarlas. <a href="/politica-de-cookies" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Más información</a>

Cookies estrictamente necesarias

Las cookies estrictamente necesarias tiene que activarse siempre para que podamos guardar tus preferencias de ajustes de cookies.

Básicamente la web no funcionara bien si no las activas.

Estas cookies son:

  • Comprobación de inicio de sesión.
  • Cookies de seguridad.
  • Aceptación/rechazo previo de cookies.

Si desactivas esta cookie no podremos guardar tus preferencias. Esto significa que cada vez que visites esta web tendrás que activar o desactivar las cookies de nuevo.

Cookies de terceros

Esta web utiliza Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager y Yandex Metrika para recopilar información anónima tal como el número de visitantes del sitio, o las páginas más populares.

Dejar estas cookies activas nos permite mejorar nuestra web.

¡Por favor, activa primero las cookies estrictamente necesarias para que podamos guardar tus preferencias!

Política de cookies

Pinche el siguiente enlace si desea información sobre el uso de cookies y como deshabilitarlas. Más información