Regulation (EU) 2021/693 establishing the Justice Programme

What it is

to establish the justice programme for the period 2021-2027. PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: the Union is a community of law , and its values constitute the very basis of its existence. These values are enshrined in the EU Treaties, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Committee on Legal Affairs and the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the report presented jointly by Heidi HAUTALA (Greens/EFA, FI) and Josef WEIDENHOLZER (S&D, AT) on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Justice Programme. The parliamentary committees recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission's proposal as follows: Members specified that the general objective of the programme shall be to contribute to the further development of a European area of freedom, security and justice based on the rule of law, including the independence of judges and impartiality of justice, on mutual recognition, mutual trust and cross border cooperation, thereby also contributing to the development of democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights. In the implementation of all its actions, the programme shall seek to support and promote, as a horizontal objective, the protection of equal rights and the principle of non-discrimination enshrined in Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Members proposed that the financial envelope for the implementation of the programme for the period 2021-2027 shall be EUR 316 million at 2018 prices (EUR 356 million in current prices, compared to EUR 305 million proposed by the Commission). The budget allocated for actions linked to the promotion of gender equality shall be indicated annually. The programme may allocate funds in one of the forms provided for in the Financial Regulation, mainly in the form of action grants, as well as annual and multiannual operating grants. In exceptional cases, where compliance with the Union's values enshrined in Article 2 of the EU Treaty is seriously deteriorating in a Member State, the Commission may open a call for tender in the form of a fast-track procedure for grant applications to civil society organisations, with a view to facilitating democratic dialogue in the Member State in question and addressing the problem of non-compliance with these values. The Commission should allocate up to 5% of the budget to this mechanism. The activation of the mechanism shall be based on a comprehensive, regular and evidence-based monitoring and evaluation of the situation in all Member States as regards democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights. The Commission shall set up a civil dialogue group to ensure a regular, open and transparent dialogue with the beneficiaries of the programme and other relevant stakeholders in order to…

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