Ursula von der Leyen
London: A leading European civil liberties network claimed that democratic standards across the union is ‘overly positive and ultimately ineffective’.
It is so because democratic standards are not ‘tied to any kind of enforcement mechanism’, The Guardian reported citing Liberties, an EU-wide network of civil liberties organisations.
The report is based on European Commission’s exhaustive annual audit of democratic standards in the union.
European Commission launched the yearly rule of law reports five years ago.
It is reported to be the commission’s key weapon against ‘democratic backsliding, including corruption and attacks on independent media and judiciary, across the union’.
However, Liberties on Monday highlighted some ‘significant deficiencies’ alongside calling for ‘swift and decisive action’ to uphold rule of law in the union.
Viktor Kazai, Liberties’ rule of law expert was quoted as saying: ‘The commission’s annual rule of law report is certainly useful for detecting violations – it’s effective as a monitoring exercise.’
Kazai said the report is ‘completely ineffective as an enforcement tool’ it has no direct link to sanctions mechanisms.
This year’s report issued in July is reported to be particularly critical of declining media freedom in Italy.
Meanwhile, the report was allegedly delayed by Ursula von der Leyen who sought Rome’s support to get re-elected as the president of the bloc’s executive
Von der Leyen was later reelected for the second term in July, according to the report.