EU countries push for new rule of law surveillance

Germany and Belgium have proposed to set up a "non-partisan" mechanism to monitor EU countries' domestic rule of law - reflecting the growing frustration of some EU governments with the lack of EU-level tools to discipline member states that infringe judicial independence and democratic values.

Two sanctions procedure against Hungary and Poland over democracy and judicial independence are bogged down in the council of member states due to procedural issues and the lack of common politi...