EU Parliament sues Commission over inaction on Rule of Law

Following President Sassoli’s request, the Parliament’s legal service today submitted the lawsuit against the European Commission for its failure to apply the Conditionality Regulation to the Court of Justice.

The regulation, which was adopted last December, allows the EU to suspend payments from the EU budget to Member States in which the rule of law is under threat. However, the Commission has refrained from using it so far. Parliament’s legal affairs committee had therefore recommended taking legal action.  

“As requested in parliamentary resolutions, our legal service has brought an action against the European Commission for failure to apply the Conditionality Regulation to the Court of Justice today (Friday),” David Sassoli said in a statement.

“We expect the European Commission to act in a consistent manner,” Sassoli said. “Words have to be turned into deeds.”

The discord relates to a mechanism in force since the beginning of the year that can be implement which withholds EU funds from the shared budget among the bloc’s 27 members.

European Parliament