Council of the
European Union
Brussels, 23 March 2022
(OR. fr)
6705/22
LIMITE
JAI 265
FREMP 48
AG 25
POLGEN 28
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 State
2. The second annual Rule of Law Report was published on
20 July 2021
3. The third annual report is expected by July 2022.
1
17014/14.
2
11225/20 and 11225/20 ADD1 COR1 to ADD27.
3
10341/21 and 10341/21 ADD1 to ADD27.
6705/22
bod/LB/moc
1
JAI.A
LIMITE
EN
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 Council
4.
Furthermore, three country-specific discussions on key developments, each focusing on the
situation in five Member States and covering 15 Member States
5, 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 newly structured, informal, open and constructive political dialogue on the rule of law, in
line with the approach established for both horizontal and country-specific discussions
6. Those
discussions could continue to make use of the relevant country chapters in the Commission's
2021 Rule of Law Report and uphold the same principles of objectivity, non-discrimination and
equal treatment of all Member States.
6. Consequently, a fourth country-specific discussion will take place at the meeting of the General
Affairs Council on 12 April 2022. It will focus on key developments in five Member States
following the EU protocol order: Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands and Austria.
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.
4
13 October 2020 and 19 October 2021.
5
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).
6
11094/20 and 7379/21.
6705/22
bod/LB/moc
2
JAI.A
LIMITE
EN
7. 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.
6705/22
bod/LB/moc
3
JAI.A
LIMITE
EN
