James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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106. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his response to the call by the Hungarian President for the resignation of the European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28484/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of Prime Minister Orbán’s recent letter to European Commission President Von der Leyen calling for the resignation of Commission Vice President Jourová. I want to make clear that I fully support the European Commission Vice President in carrying out her duties and that Ireland has full trust in the Vice President. The Commission has a role as the guardian of the EU’s treaties and I believe that the Vice President’s actions are in keeping with this role. It is important that Commissioners are empowered to speak and act independently in the fulfilment of their duties. I understand that President Von der Leyen will respond to Prime Minister Orbán in due course.

Prime Minister Orbán’s letter to President Von der Leyen came on the eve of the publication of the Commission’s first annual report on the rule of law situation across the EU and in all Member States. Ireland welcomes the publication of the Commission’s report which forms an important element of the Commission’s rule of law mechanism and complements the ongoing work of the Commission, Council and European Parliament on promoting and protecting the rule of law. We look forward to discussion of the report at Council level.

As the contents of the report have shown, no Member State is immune from criticism regarding the rule of law, including Ireland. While criticism may sometimes be difficult for Member States to hear and accept, it is important that the Council has an objective basis on which to conduct its dialogue on the rule of law across the Member States and the Commission is best placed to provide that basis.

It is important that all Member States remain open to, and encourage, dialogue regarding the rule of law and seek to constructively address concerns raised by the institutions of the Union or fellow Member States.