MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2020) The European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee approved a draft interim report on Thursday that calls on the council to resume the Article 7 procedure against Poland over "overwhelming evidence" of it breaching European values.
The committee OKed the report, submitted by chair Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar of the bloc's Social Democrats, in a 52-15 vote, with no abstentions.
According to the press release, the document "calls on the Council and the Commission to refrain from narrowly interpreting the principle of the rule of law, and to use the procedure under Article 7(1) TEU to its full potential [...] for all the principles enshrined in Article 2 TEU, including democracy and fundamental rights."
The draft report also urges the council to resume Article 7 procedure with regard to Poland, which has been put on hold since 2018, when the last hearings involving Poland took place. The Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) was triggered by the commission in December 2017 over alleged threats to judiciary independence in Poland.
Among key concerns mentioned in the fresh draft are recent changes to the electoral law and elections organized during a public emergency, the judiciary reform, freedom of expression and media, "the de facto criminalisation of sexual education," hate speech, violence against women, domestic violence and "intolerant behaviour against minorities and other vulnerable groups, including LGBTI persons," as well as steps "coming close to de facto banning of abortion."
The document is to be debated and voted on in parliament in September.
