Why Monti in the Corriere della Sera covers Poland, Hungary, Recovery and the rule of law
What is wrong with the editorial written by Mario Monti in the Corriere della Sera. The comment by Giuseppe Liturri
After the article, signed by George Soros , published by Sole 24 Ore a few days ago, the press campaign aimed at attributing to Poland and Hungary the responsibility for a possible postponement of the approval of the package of regulations including Next Generation EU and budget years, it has undoubtedly risen in level. Proof of this is what Senator Mario Monti wrote today in Corriere della Sera . An article where the distortion of facts overshadows the respect, always due, for opinions.
The summary (" There are no geopolitical reasons that should induce the EU to bow its head in front of the autocratic rulers who are now in power in Hungary and Poland ") gives an idea of the general orientation and the sentence already passed: c 'is a (or rather two) executioner who blackmails and starves Europe that must heroically resist and not bow its head. But things are exactly the opposite, and we will prove it to you.
According to the professor, these reprobate states block everything because they oppose a regulation that states that " a state cannot receive the funds attributed to it if it violates the rules of the rule of law, such as the independence of the judiciary or the freedom of the press, for example when they investigate or protest against politicians or corrupt parties ”.
Unfortunately, reading the regulation is not the case at all and we fear that the senator has not read it. The assumed facts that would trigger the sanctions do not mention freedom of the press at all, while they speak of the independence of the judiciary. Furthermore, they are of such generic nature – especially those provided for in Article 2a of the draft that emerged from the Trilogue (negotiated between the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament) – that they resemble good-for-all tools, they are the triumph of discretion and therefore, in the last resort , of the blackmail of the unfortunate Member State that was not in line with the political line of the Commission and of the other Member States. The very concept of the rule of law is elusive, in fact the regulation refers to the values already present in Article 2 of the TEU (separation of powers, the principle of legality and equality before the law, democracy and pluralism of the legislative process, limits to arbitrariness of the executive power, independence of the judiciary and effectiveness of judicial protection) which already find protection in the procedure provided for by art. 7 You that can go as far as the suspension of the voting power of the defaulting country.
The summary process continues by stating that " in a Community that is not only economic, but above all one of values and rights, we cannot admit that democracy is abandoned in some Member State, nor that European taxpayers' money is not used there. to promote economic and social development, but to enrich corrupt and corrupt to the detriment of citizens ”.
It is regrettable that Monti stands up as a champion of values and rights when he was the protagonist of a season of budget cuts that have questioned in our country, precisely the actual exercise of some rights such as that to Health, with beds per inhabitant in vertical fall. Sed transeat. It is equally perplexing to learn, but we take note of it, that when the outcome of a vote in a country does not correspond to its wishes, then there is "abandonment of democracy". Curious conception.
Continuing, Monti's total state of subjection to the superiority of the external constraint is confirmed by this incident:
(NB for Italy. We should not be surprised if one day the EU, before disbursing its funds, wanted to verify well, in each country, if the state and the government not only observe the rule of law, but want and are able to I would recommend that a detailed, "armed" and credible plan against corruption and tax evasion constitutes the first and substantial chapter of the "Italian plan for recovery and resilience" to be submitted to the EU. This also in order to favorably "surprise" the community officials and induce them to read, I go a little further, "passionate" about the following chapters ).
Monti should be reminded that if the Brussels officials did an effective scrutiny on our country, perhaps they would have something to object to the climate of substantial blackmail in which Parliament was forced to vote at the end of 2011 a budget law that sank the country in a almost 3 years long recession. Or, in the following months, the constitutional law on budget balance or the ESM Treaty. Just to give the first two examples. Or the Commission could take a look at the substantial elimination of the legislative power of Parliament as a result of the presentation to the Chambers of the 2021 budget law which took place only on November 18, effectively preventing a discussion on the merits.
Monti continues: “I trust that a solution will be found, but the EU cannot yield on such a fundamental principle. Rather, it would seem reasonable to me (by increasing and not reducing the EU's accession to the rule of law) to provide that the Member State which, on a proposal from the Commission, is sanctioned by the Council which finds violations of the rule of law and therefore orders the blocking of disbursements, can bring the matter before the EU Court of Justice . "
And here he has a jolt of respect for the rule of law, because he realizes that a sanction ordered by a political and non-judicial body such as the Council, would perhaps deserve a scrutiny by a magistrate. Too bad that in the meantime the country would find itself in canvas pants and the executive ended up in the spotlight of the Commission would be politically destroyed.
“The EU must be able to enter, under certain conditions, as 22 countries have done, by joining the 6 founders. We must be able to leave the EU, as a country has democratically decided to do. But as long as you are in this condominium, you are certainly free to harshly criticize every aspect, which can help condominiums improve the building or some condominium rules; but not to violate fundamental rules in force "
We are always there: Monti, lucky him, has already identified the culprits and ascertained the crimes. To then launch into the grand finale in which all the junk of the mainstream media listened to by "people who like people who like" blends into an indigestible fruit salad:
Today, Kaczynski's Poland and Orbán's Hungary are perhaps a little disoriented. Trump has not been re-elected, Biden is a supporter of European integration, the EU has strengthened, the two Italian parties closest to Orbán and Kaczynski are both in opposition (Lega and Fratelli d'Italia, the latter, however, less viscerally adversary of the EU and more selective in its criticisms); Putin's Russia seems close to a delicate phase of succession.
In short, there are no geopolitical reasons that should induce the EU to bow its head in front of the autocratic rulers of Budapest and Warsaw at a time when they are challenging, moreover, from positions of weakness, the moral and legal principles on which our e , we would like, their Europe .
Instead, there are no reasons why democratically elected governments are pilloried on the basis of elusive and difficult to evaluate assumptions, for the sole fact of not wanting to bow to a procedure that can also be triggered by "other relevant international organizations" (read the word NGO?) which would be empowered to refer the matter to the Commission.
The blackmail is exactly the opposite: those countries had made it clear that the rule of law has nothing to do with the protection of the EU budget and therefore would have allowed the 21/7 agreement only provided that the conditions for disbursement of the funds referred solely to sound financial management principles. Not others. If, in the course of subsequent negotiations, the European Parliament was allowed to introduce references that would be a good club for every use, it means having explicitly wanted to put Poland and Hungary with their backs to the wall, forcing them to activate the only lever available to them: block the budget (where unanimity is required) and which brings huge and valuable funds to those countries.
So the perpetrator and the blackmailer are not really those who, knowingly carrying out an inapplicable regulation, put them in a position to make the desperate gesture of "blowing themselves up", vetoing the budget and achieving the double result of disliking those governments in Europe and at home?
Introduce rules that, yes, they are a real disgrace to the rule of law, to condition the arrival of financial resources: this is the real blackmail to which those countries are subjected today and to which we hope they will not bow.
Those who have recent memories of oligarchic and totalitarian powers recognize them first and do not accept certificates of good democratic conduct from anyone .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/perche-monti-sul-corriere-della-sera-sbarella-su-polonia-ungheria-recovery-e-stato-di-diritto/ on Sun, 22 Nov 2020 21:59:16 +0000.