“This is where they censored the content. One part of the objectives of the meeting between Accetto and Jourová,” MEP Dr Milan Zver reacted to Wednesday’s response of the European Commission on Věra Jourová. The Commission has responded to the wrong claims.
The Vice-President of the European Commission, Věra Jourová, enjoys the strong support of the President of the European Commission, as do all the members of the Commission, the general reply explained. However, this does not mean that she actually has her support.
In response to a press question, Brussels today reiterated its position and rejected accusations that Jourová has sought to politically influence the functioning of Slovenian institutions and interfere in Slovenia’s internal and constitutional affairs.
Commission spokesman Christian Wigand stressed that Jourová is responsible for the area of the rule of law and all key issues related to it. Meetings with the highest representatives of the judiciary and constitutional courts in European Union Member States are, therefore, part of her work. He confirmed that during her two-day working visit to Slovenia, Jourová did not discuss the national media outlet Radio-Television Slovenia (RTV Slovenia) with the President of the Constitutional Court, Matej Accetto, but instead talked to him about the rule of law. Meanwhile, the Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS) claims that the Constitutional Court lifted the suspension of the amendment to the Radio-Television Slovenia Act because of Commissioner Jourová’s influence.
Wigand also added that Jourová regularly meets with the Presidents of the Constitutional Courts of the Member States of the European Union in the course of her duties, citing past meetings with the Presidents of the Constitutional Courts of Romania, the Czech Republic, Poland, Spain and Germany as examples. “This is, therefore, commonplace,” he said.
The Commission does not know what it is doing
“Today’s reaction of the European Commission spokesperson to yesterday’s press conference on Jourová unfortunately proves that the Commission does not know what the Commission is doing. In fact, the spokesperson is justifying the censorship of a report that the European Commission already fully disclosed more than half a year ago. But the spokesperson apparently thinks that the problem is still with the report. We already lifted the censorship of this report more than half a year ago. And besides, the reasons for censorship ten months ago, which the spokesman is repeating today, are also false, because he says that I did not ask for the full report. That is, of course, not true. I requested ALL the documentation within Jourová’s and other European Commission cabinets.
So, I am heading to the General Court of the European Union on the basis of new documents – reminders prepared by Jourová’s office for her visit, which we received recently. This is where they censored the content. One part of the objectives of the meeting between Accetto and Jourová – which is also the only substantive censorship. They are justifying the censorship in the accompanying letter on the grounds that this point was not discussed at the meeting anyway and that such disclosure would undermine the European Commission’s decision-making process and lead to self-censorship of the officials who prepare such reminders.
I am therefore problematising the censored point 3 of the reminder, not the five pages of a report that has been revealed half a year ago already. If only some Slovenian correspondent had followed the subject and had been able to refute the claims of the Commission spokesman. But alas …”
C. Š.
