EU Parliament Throws Down the Gauntlet on Rule of Law (Again)
The European Parliament just voted—387 to 191, with 46 abstentions for those sitting on the fence—to tell the European Commission what everyone’s been thinking: “We gave you recommendations. You’re not using them.”
In a resolution adopted Wednesday, MEPs essentially waved a giant red flag over the state of democracy across EU member states, pointing out that a whopping 93% of the Commission’s rule-of-law recommendations are just copy-pasted from previous years. It’s like getting the same New Year’s resolution reminder every January, except this time it’s about protecting democracy, not hitting the gym.
The Greatest Hits of Democratic Backsliding
The laundry list of concerns reads like a dystopian bingo card: judicial independence under threat, corruption running wild, journalists being harassed (or worse), spyware snooping on citizens, and civil society groups getting squeezed harder than a tube of toothpaste.
Courts are facing political meddling in appointments and case assignments—apparently some politicians missed the memo about the whole “separation of powers” thing. Meanwhile, corruption continues to thrive in what MEPs diplomatically call an environment of “weak enforcement” but what the rest of us might call “looking the other way.”
Media Freedom? More Like Media Pressure
Investigative journalists are facing everything from lawsuits to literal assassination, which Parliament notes is “a direct attack on the rule of law.” (Hot take, we know.) Add in spyware surveillance, politically controlled advertising budgets, and media ownership concentrated in fewer hands than a poker game, and you’ve got a recipe for some seriously chilled reporting.
Civil Society Gets the Cold Shoulder
NGOs and human rights defenders are drowning in red tape, funding cuts, and what the resolution calls “smear campaigns”—because nothing says “healthy democracy” like making it harder for people to, you know, defend democracy.
The Money Question
Perhaps most awkwardly, MEPs pointed out that EU funds might be bankrolling some of these rights violations. Their solution? Stop the payments where problems persist. It’s the political equivalent of “no allowance until you clean your room.”
Greek MEP Konstantinos Arvanitis, who shepherded the report through, called the broad support “a milestone” and expressed hope it would become “an important reference tool.” Translation: “Please, for the love of all that is democratic, actually use this one.”
The Parliament’s message is clear: Europe’s democratic foundations are cracking, the Commission’s recommendations are gathering dust, and it’s time to stop hitting snooze on the rule-of-law alarm clock.