It is unacceptable that the situation of the minorities gets worse after the EU accession
Csaba Sógor spoke in favour of the rule of law mechanism at the interparliamentary meeting of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). Referring to the recent events from Romania, the MEP also stressed: anti-minority manifestations make it increasingly urgent to develop a European-level control system that monitors and calls the Member States to account if they fail to respect the rule of law, democracy and fundamental human rights.
On 22 June, members of the European Parliament and national parliaments jointly discussed the practical application of the report on the establishment of an EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights adopted by the EP on 25 October 2016.
On behalf of RMDSZ, MEP Csaba Sógor an Izabella Ambrus, member of the Romanian Parliament took part in the debate.
”Everyone, starting with the Romanian President to the Foreign Affairs Minister says that traditional national minorities can practice their rights in Romania in an exemplary way. Nevertheless, we could see again in the recent days that the rightful demands of Hungarians from Romania - including the law of minorities which was promised at the time of accession but never accepted, the settlement of the situation of the Hungarian department of the University of medicine and Pharmacology and the Roman Catholic school in from Târgu Mureș/ Marosvásárhely, the issue of mother tongue and symbol use - are considered as national threats and are used as tools of incitement towards the society”, pointed out Csaba Sógor, who considers unacceptable that the situation of autochthonous minority communities worsens after accession.
He also pointed out that there are several EU Member States besides Romania that disregard the values of the Treaty of the European Union. Through the rule of law mechanism we also want the European Union to protect the rights of national minorities. Though in theory everything seems to be fine in this regard, in practice severe backsliding and abuses can be identified in this area after accession. The monitoring reports by the Council of Europe or the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights have no systemic implications for the Member States. According to the MEP, with such a rule of law mechanism a new era could begin, in which the citizens of the EU - including indigenous national minorities - can enjoy the same fundamental rights throughout the EU.
The rule of law mechanism
The EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights aims at ensuring that all EU Member States respect the values set out in the EU Treaties and therefore, setting out conditions which are based on facts. The report adopted by the EP (25 October 2016) considers the interparliamentary debate as one of the key elements of the democratic pillars of control.
.
