Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Following up on Deputy Haughey's comments and the rule of law issues concerning Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Poland, the Commissioner referred to the issue of LGBTI free zones. The European Union and the Commission are looking at every facility to ensuring maintenance of the rule of law. I welcome the fact Mr. Reynders spoke about how twinning funding has been removed. From 1 January with the multi-annual budgeting and all major funding, conditionality will be built in. How exactly will this process go for a member state which is involved in a major breach of these rule of law issues?

When we had a number of engagements with MEPs, some of them said they welcomed the fact that there were rule of law actions taken against some of these countries involved in brutal breaches of EU law and decency. They also spoke about some other issues, such as in Spain where Catalonian politicians have been detrimentally impacted in what is seen by many as anti-democratic action. While I understand the Commissioner might not be able to give the complete answer I am looking for on that, some MEPs have pointed out the law will apply to certain member states which breach rules but not to all. That is unacceptable if we are talking about a rule of law ethos.

How does one deal with breaches of rule of law by former member states? Will Mr. Reynders give an update on the infringement proceedings regarding the British Government's unilateral action in the past week?