Press release - ‘Not there yet’: Rule of law conditionality trilogues continue

After conclusion of the third round of informal legislative negotiations with the Council, EP negotiators said on Tuesday:

“Some progress was made today but we are not there yet. The EP’s position is clear: we need a functioning mechanism that works in practice and protects the final recipients of the EU money. 77% of the EU taxpayers have confirmed that this is what they expect from the EU legislators“.

The next round of informal inter-institutional negotiations is scheduled to take place on Thursday the 29th October.

The 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 demands were:

- to link EU funds to the respect to the rule of law and fundamental rights in member states;

- an “applicable mechanism” that actually can be triggered;

- to protect the beneficiaries (final recipients of EU funds);

- to include the Parliament in any decision to trigger the mechanism, and

- a panel of independent experts to assist the Commission.

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.