Esta es la versión HTML de un fichero adjunto a una solicitud de acceso a la información 'Formal Article 7(1) TEU hearing of Hungary on 18 November 2022'.


  
 
 
 

Council of the 
 
 

 European Union 
   
 
Brussels, 2 September 2022 
(OR. en) 
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NOTE 
From: 
Presidency 
To: 
Delegations 
Subject: 
Annual rule of law dialogue 
 
 
1.  On 16 December 2014, the Council adopted conclusions that establish an annual political 
dialogue among all Member States in the General Affairs Council to promote and safeguard the 
rule of law in the framework of the Treaties1. It was agreed that the dialogue would be based on 
the principles of objectivity, non-discrimination and equal treatment of all Member States and 
would be conducted in a non-partisan and evidence-based manner. 
2.  Reaffirming these principles, the Presidency conclusions of 19 November 2019 stressed the 
wish for the dialogue to be stronger, more result-oriented and better structured.  
3.  On 30 September 2020, the Commission published its first annual Rule of Law Report, 
providing an overview of both the state of the rule of law in the EU and an assessment of the 
situation in each Member State2. Subsequent reports were issued on 20 July 20213 and 
13 July 20224
                                                 
1 
17014/14. 
2 
11225/20 and 11225/20 ADD1 COR1 to ADD27. 
3 
10341/21 and 10341/21 ADD1 to ADD27. 
4 
11408/22 and 11408/22 ADD1 to ADD28. 
 
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4.  In the second half of 2020, the German Presidency took a structured approach to implementing 
the annual rule of law dialogue. Since October 2020, two horizontal discussions covering 
general rule-of-law developments in the EU have taken place in the General Affairs Council5
Furthermore, four country-specific discussions on key developments, each focusing on the 
situation in five Member States and covering 20 Member States overall6, have taken place in the 
General Affairs Council.  
5.  The Presidency believes that the exchanges conducted in this format have so far proved to be a 
highly successful tool. It is fully committed to continuing to consolidate, within the Council, 
this structured, informal, open and constructive political dialogue on the rule of law, in line with 
the approach established so far for both horizontal and country-specific discussions7. Those 
discussions could continue to make use of the relevant country chapters in the 
Commission's 2022 Rule of Law Report and uphold the same principles of objectivity, 
non-discrimination and equal treatment of all Member States. 
6.  Consequently, the third horizontal discussion will take place at the General Affairs Council on 
20 September 2022. The Commission will be given the opportunity to present its assessment of 
the general developments in the EU. The political discussion will address the four areas covered 
by the Commission rule of law report (justice systems, the anti-corruption framework, media 
pluralism and other institutional issues related to checks and balances). 
                                                 
5  
13 October 2020 and 19 October 2021. 
6  
Specifically, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Estonia 
(17 November 2020); Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain and France (20 April 2021); 
and Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia and Lithuania (23 November 2021); Luxembourg, Hungary, 
Malta, the Netherlands and Austria (12 April 2022). 
7  
11094/20, 7379/21, 12467/21 and 6705/22. 
 
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7.  A fifth country-specific discussion will take place at the meeting of the General Affairs Council 
on 18 November 2022. It will focus on key developments in five Member States following the 
EU protocol order: Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden. Sweden has exchanged its 
place with the country preceding it in the order, Slovakia, so to avoid that in the first half 
of 2023 the Presidency chairs the discussion on its own country. Each of the five Member States 
will be asked to present key national developments and particular aspects of their national rule 
of law framework. After each presentation, the other Member States will be given the 
opportunity to share their comments and questions on the situation in the five Member States 
reviewed and provide an account of their own experiences and best practices regarding the 
topics discussed, taking a constructive and inclusive approach. 
8.  The Presidency stresses the importance of continuing this dialogue, with country-specific 
discussions taking place every six months, and a horizontal discussion organised annually, 
following the publication of the Commission’s annual Rule of Law Reports.  
 
 
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