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 State
2. Subsequent reports were issued on 20 July 2021
3 and
13 July 2022
4.
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 Council
5.
Furthermore, four country-specific discussions on key developments, each focusing on the
situation in five Member States and covering 20 Member States overall
6, 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 discussions
7. 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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