2023-07-05 13:01:27
Also known as “troublemakers’ of the European Union, Poland and Hungaryare again in focus due to the state of the rule of law in both Member States.
According to annual report of the European Commission published today, although they have made partial improvements in the field of justice, they are still unable to address European concerns about corruption and media independence.
Regarding media concentration, it remains at the level of “elevated risk” across the EU, the report points out. In an increased range of risks, according to the Media Pluralism Observatory, Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, Slovenia and Malta are placed in the “high risk” group, while Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and Hungary are in the “extremely high risk” group.
At the same time, with regard to media ownership, according to the report, since last year, new legislative measures that improve transparency regarding media ownership have been adopted in Greece, Luxembourg, Sweden, and also in Cyprus.
Regarding the measures for improving the safety of journalistsin line with last year’s recommendations, the report states that a special working group has been established in Greece which will include the creation of an Observatory for “recording threats and attacks against journalists”, as well as a special international training center for their safety.
The report on the rule of law essentially assesses the progress of the Commission’s recommendations, while also advancing new ones. It is “an ongoing dialogue with member states”as Commissioner Vera Jourova mentioned a while ago at the press conference, regarding justice, anti-corruption, media freedom and pluralism.
Overall, for 2023 the Commission notes progress in relation to last year’s recommendations, with almost 65% already fulfilled by the member states, which “reflects” a positive trend, given, as pointed out, that several reforms in the sensitive area of the rule of law may “take longer to bear fruit”.
Independence of justice
According to this year’s report on Hungary, the risk of arbitrary decisions on the careers of judges is expected to be limited by a “new law”, while also noting that “in Hungary the government has continued to use emergency powers extensively since 2020, undermining legal certainty and affecting the activities and stability of businesses in the single market’.
For Poland, the report notes some “progress” in the independence of the prosecution from the government and its prosecutions, but notes that “the duties of the minister of justice and the attorney general have not yet been separated.”
Regarding Greece, no progress has been made in terms of “the participation of the judiciary in the process of appointing judges to senior positions”, as pointed out.
With regard to the digitization of the justice system, which is “essential to addressing the wider challenges in some Member States”, the report notes that in Greece, Cyprus and Malta the increase in relevant resources and other measures taken ” they have not yet led to a reduction in the duration of the procedure, while the delay in (adjudication) of cases remains a serious challenge”.
At the same time, for Greece, the report notes that, “while some progress has been made in terms of the rate of prosecutions and convictions for bribery offences, the relatively high number of acquittals and suspended sentences may raise doubts about the deterrent effect of reaction of criminal justice”.
Overall for Greece, the Commission finds and recommends:
In the field of justice, Greece has not made any progress regarding the need to involve the judiciary in the appointment of the president and vice-president of the Council of State, the Supreme Court and the Court of Auditors, taking into account European standards for judicial appointments. For this reason, it is recommended by the Commission to proceed with the necessary steps.
The report, meanwhile, states that significant progress has been made in ensuring effective and systematic verification of the accuracy of “whereabouts” submitted by all public servants. Greece has made relative progress in efforts to create a system for recording prosecutions and decisions in corruption cases. For all this, our country is recommended to strengthen these efforts.
Regarding the media, this year’s report makes some progress in ensuring improved working conditions and the safety of journalists, based on the memorandum of understanding, but new legislation is needed based on European standards, in particular concerns the protection of journalists. This year’s recommendations state that Greece should proceed with the process of adopting not only legislative safeguards, but also initiate the legislative process regarding the protection of journalists, continue the actions initiated by the Task Force, especially in regarding abusive lawsuits against journalists, as well as their protection in general.
At the same time, some progress has been made in Greece regarding the mandatory registration of civil society organizations, as well as maintaining an open framework for their operation. For this reason, the Commission asks our country to proceed with further measures concerning the evaluation of the current registration system of the specific organizations, but also to start a dialogue with them.
Civil society
As far as they are concerned Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and human rights defendersthe report notes that they continue to face challenges related to the limitation of their operating space, while only a portion of last year’s recommendations have been implemented.
In Greece, he says, the state of civil society raises concerns, particularly with regard to organizations active in specific sectors. And while the report does not mention which ones it means, the clarification was made at the press conference by the responsible Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reyders, pointing out that they concern Non-Governmental Organizations active in the field of immigration.
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