THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Towards a new legislative term

SITUATION OF THE RULE OF LAW IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. THE ANNUAL MECHANISM 39 – Anti-corruption frameworks, focusing on the effec- tiveness of national anti-corruption policies and as- sessing different key areas of action taken by Mem- ber States to prevent and fight corruption. Effective anti-corruption action, transparency and integrity help ensure the strength and reliability of state pow- er and are essential to citizen and businesses’ trust in public authorities. – Media freedom and pluralism, focusing on core areas including the independence of the media regulatory authorities; transparency and concentration of media ownership; transparency and fairness in the alloca- tion of state advertising; the safety of journalists and access to information; and the governance of public service media. These are essential to how the media exercises its role in a healthy democracy. – Institutional issues related to checks and balances, focusing on areas of key importance for the rule of law, such as: the quality and inclusiveness of the na- tional legislative process; the role of Constitutional Courts and independent authorities such as the Ombudsperson, equality bodies and national human rights institutions; and the role of civil society organi- sations in safeguarding the rule of law.” 4 Secondly, and from the perspective of its insertion in the inter-institutional mechanics of the EU, this report sits within the annual rule of law cycle which, with re- gard to this fourth report, began when the third report was adopted by the Commission in July 2022, with a focus on monitoring and implementing the recommen- dations addressed to the 27 Member States and devel- oped in subsequent stages. – Approval and launch by the Commission in autumn of an updated questionnaire, based on the recom- mendations of the third report and addressed to a target audience of organisations and bodies recog- nised for their work in the area of the rule of law, with questions linked to the four major blocks that constitute the structure of these reports: national jus- tice systems, anti-corruption frameworks, media free- dom and pluralism, and institutional issues related to checks and balances. – This public consultation was open from 14 November 4 Idem, p. 2–3. 2022 to 20 January 2023 and while it was aimed at key national stakeholders (specialist NGOs, associa- tions of judges and prosecutors, legal professionals, media associations, academia etc.), it was also open for national administrations to present their own points of view by responding to the questionnaire. – Next, having analysed the contributions, the Com- mission embarked upon the country visit stage from February 2023 to April 2023. These visits, which were conducted virtually, provide an opportunity to ex- plore questionnaire responses in greater depth and to hold exchanges with national administrations and key stakeholders, to resolve any questions the Com- mission might have in developing the recommenda- tions addressed to individual states. – Finally, and before final adoption of the report, in June 2023 the Commission transmitted the relevant chapters of the report to each state, giving them the opportunity to submit observations before the re- port’s final approval by the Commission. A strengthened, autonomous added value of the Mechanism Beyond this technical work, led by the Commission as guardian of the Treaties and defender of general inter- ests, what is the added value of this fourth report in terms of the requirement for EU constitutionality and as an expression of a minima moralia of the legitimacy of the EU itself, as defined by Julio BAQUERO CRUZ? 5 A first innovation in this respect consists in the in- clusion of an inter-institutional dimension in the annual rule of law cycle, which translates into an inter-institu- tional cooperation mechanism by means of which the Council and the European Parliament will discuss this report and the implementation of its recommendations, in a dialogue throughout autumn 2023, in parallel to their discussion at the national level by national govern- ments and parliaments. 6 5 BAQUERO CRUZ; Julio: “Mínima moralia: el Estado de Derecho, el método comunitario y el presupuesto de la Unión Europea”. Revista de Derecho Comunitario Europeo, vol. 72, 2023, pp. 431 and ss. 6 For more details, see point 3.1 “Dialogue and follow-up to the Rule of Law report ”, COM(2023) 800 final op. cit., pp. 27 to 29.