The situation in Slovakia concerning the areas of the rule of the law and media freedom was discussed at a mini-plenary session of the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday morning. At the session, Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders told the Slovak government that he's closely following all the changes being introduced.
Reynders noted that all EU-member states must protect the rule of law and remarked that the European Commission made recommendations concerning Slovakia last December, while the next evaluation report will be presented in July. "There has been a certain shift in Slovakia since October, which is associated with serious concerns, and we are in close contact with the Slovak government in this regard," said Reynders.
At the same time, Reynders noted that the recent changes to the Penal Code were adopted in early February via fast-track proceedings despite the fact that the EC had asked the Slovak government for more time for consultation at both national and European level. In his view, these changes will jeopardise the fight against corruption in the country.
Reynders praised the fact, however, that the reform adopted took into account certain doubts of the EC. The Commission, he said, noted that the government withdrew from fast-track proceedings in February a plan for changes regarding whistleblowers that wasn't in line with EU legislation.
The Commission also noted that the government has scrapped the Special Prosecutor's Office, despite Brussels' request that the measure shouldn't be dealt with via fast-track proceedings and that guarantees should be taken to ensure effective investigations into pending corruption cases, including those involving EU financial interests.
Reynders added that the EC is also taking note of the government's modifications to the national recovery plan and expressed hope that the two sides will be able to find common solutions to ensure compliance with European law and Slovakia's obligations.
On the issue of media freedom, Reynders said that last year the European Commission already noted the financial insecurity of the public-service media. He added that the EC is following the government's plans to introduce legislative changes regarding public-service broadcaster RTVS as well as ongoing consultations at the national level and wants to be sure that these changes are in line with European standards, including the recently adopted European Media Freedom Act.
Reynders went on to criticise the fact that there has been no progress in Slovakia since last year in improving the physical safety and working environment of journalists. The Commission has taken note of reports that two-thirds of journalists in Slovakia have experienced intimidation and four have been physically assaulted in the past year.
Moreover, the EC is also monitoring a recently proposed reform on the compulsory designation of foreign agents and will closely monitor changes concerning the Statistics Office, while already assessing whether these may violate current EU legislation in the field of statistics.
TASR
