MEPs urge Sassoli to sue EU Commission on rule of law

Many MEPs have been keeping the commission under pressure to use a 'conditionality mechanism', which came into force in January, enabling the EU executive to propose suspension of funds for member states who violated rule of law.

But the commission expects to take its first step only in autumn, saying it needed time to put together watertight charges that would stand up to challenge in the ECJ under the slogan "no case will be lost".

Prior to Thursday's vote, centre-right MEPs had cautioned against escalating tensions between the parliament and the commission.

MEPs from the European People's Party said the EU institutions were on the same side in supporting the mechanism, which had come under fire from some member states, notably Hungary and Poland, who might well be first in the firing line after its implementation.

The anti-federalist European Conservatives and Reformists and far-right Identity and Democracy groups were also against pressing for action.

Meanwhile, Warsaw and Budapest have challenged the legality of the mechanism at the EU's top court in a bid to play for time, with a hearing on the case held in Luxembourg on Wednesday.

But on the other side, German MEP Tiemo Wölken, from the Socialists & Democrats group, said before the legal-affairs committee vote: "Instead of standing up to bullies and autocrats using EU money to dismantle democracy, the Commission has kicked the can down the road and failed to apply the rule-of-law conditionality regulation".

"The time has come for the Commission to face up to its failures and take responsibility," Wölken added.

"The European Parliament's action is a response to the exacerbating rule-of-law crisis and the EU Commission's continued refusal to act. We are determined to take all legal steps to make the Commission act and impose sanctions on the rule-of-law offenders in the EU," German Green MEP Daniel Freund also said after Thursday's vote.

The ball is now in the court of David Sassoli, the president of the EU Parliament, who will decide whether to call on its legal services to prepare an ECJ complaint.