‘Everything is still to be agreed’: EP
19:00
Informal talks between European Parliament and Council on Rule of law conditionality will continue in November. The case, that may be crucial for Polish interest, is to cover a mechanism to link EU funds to respect for rule of law. Now, after concluding the fourth round of informal legislative negotiations with the Council, EP negotiators said that they did not reach a compromise on the rule of law conditionality mechanism.
“Everything is still to be agreed. After internal discussions in the European Parliament, we will return for the fifth trilogue in November,” the negotiators added.
he European Parliament has been ready to start inter-institutional negotiations on the “rule of law conditionality” regulation since January 2019, when MEPs approved their first reading position.
The EP’s main demand has been to effectively link EU funds to the respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights in member states, by an “applicable mechanism” that can be triggered effectively. They have also called for the final recipients of EU funds to be protected and for the Parliament to be included in the decision-making process.
In a recent EU-wide survey (conducted October 2020), 77% of Europeans insisted that the EU should only provide funds to member states if the national government implements the rule of law and democratic principles.
(WBJ)
