“Reynders fully commits to a single Rule of Law mechanism and making online platforms resolved within a European justice model. He will be a strong ally of this Parliament”

During this morning’s joint LIBE and JURI hearing, Didier Reynders made a strong impression by promising to be uncompromising on the rule of law and civil rights.

Sophie in ‘t Veld (NL):“I was extremely pleased to see Didier Reynders fully committing to everything the European Parliament asked for since 2016: a single Rule of Law mechanism for all three institutions – Parliament, Council and Commission - and with the full scope of the Treaties: fundamental rights, rule of law and democracy.

Mr. Reynders also clearly recognised the legislative right of initiative of this Parliament. He also intends to immediately integrate existing instruments like the Justice Score Board, the Fundamental Rights Report and the Media Pluralism Monitor.

The previous Commission was often lacklustre in its defence of the Rule of Law. With Mr. Reynders this Parliament will have a strong ally. In the European Parliament Renew Europe is leading on the rule of law and fundamental rights. Together with Charles Michel in the Council and Vera Jourova as Commissioner for Values, we will be in pole position to finally and fully secure the rule of law in Europe.”

Karen Melchior (DK):“Didier Reynders committed to ensuring that the digital space is also a democratic space for Europeans. More and more citizens are obliged to seek the resolution of their disputes within commercial platforms. This is not fair because platforms like eBay or YouTube are at the same time ‘party’ in the dispute and ‘judge’ deciding on the very same dispute. On top of that, these dispute mechanisms are often based in countries with limited access to justice, limited consumer rights and limited workers’ rights. We should not allow commercial platforms to circumvent and avoid European laws this way. I was happy with Didier Reynders saying ‘in-platform’ dispute resolution mechanisms have to be in accordance with the European values of fairness and transparency!

He also struck the right balance between being a believer in new technologies and protecting the individual rights of European citizens. That is the big challenge in the years to come: making sure technologies like Artificial Intelligence work for all Europeans and are not biased towards those who already got a head-start in life. I was very happy to see Didier Reynders fully grasped this difficult challenge.”

ENDS