Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When one considers this matter in broad terms, people might ask as to why one would have any concerns. In that context, Article 7 may be invoked in cases of serious and persistent breach of EU values and of those of each member state. When one drills down, however, it is obvious that the values of individual states may differ greatly. Why would anyone be opposed to human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, respect for human rights, etc.? Again, however, if one drills down, one discovers that is not black and white. Some countries might have particular attitudes in respect of human dignity. I refer, for example, to a situation where a court in a particular member state might make a ruling to allow a person who is terminally ill and who is in extreme pain to take his or her own life. Would some countries have a huge difficulty in that regard while others would not? I am just being provocative in order to try to tease out the exact position. In that context, if the elected government of a country such as Hungary is of the view that a threat exists, then surely the Commission is undermining its democratic basis.

They are some of the debates that will take place. I have difficulty with the proposal concerning the rule of law. A young Irish person is before the courts in Egypt and one could argue that what is happening there is according to the rule of law. Judges are presiding over the situation but in some cases they will not allow lawyers to put forward a case.