Dutch MEP Sophia in 't Veld, who criticised the Commission's response | John Thys/Getty Images MEPs call for better monitoring of rule of law Committee approves new mechanism to ensure fundamental rights.

MEPs on Monday called for a better way to monitor rule of law and fundamental rights in EU member countries.

A proposed new mechanism, known as the EU Pact for Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights, was approved by the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on Monday evening. It would consolidate a number of tools already in place, such as the Justice Scoreboard and the media pluralism monitor. A panel of independent experts would make country-specific recommendations during an annual fitness check of each member state.

The European Commission and the Council of Ministers have introduced various initiatives in recent years to counter perceived backsliding when it comes to rule of law in countries such as Poland and Hungary.

"The Commission will only do something when there's a problem somewhere," said Sophie in't Veld, the Dutch Liberal MEP who led the negotiations on the new proposal for the Parliament. "Political considerations play a role: is it a big country or a small country? Which parties are in government? The big leap that we need to take is that we monitor all member states on the same basis."

Frans Timmermans, vice president of the Commission, is currently facing down Poland's Law and Justice government over controversial reforms made to the country's constitutional court, using the institution's Rule of Law Framework for the first time. However, Polish politicians have batted away criticism, arguing the Commission is motivated by political concerns.

The vote came on the same day that 12 governments — including representatives from France, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Denmark and Belgium — met in Rome to discuss how well the Council's own mechanism for keeping track of the rule of law in EU countries has functioned. The "annual rule of law dialogue" was put in place at the end of 2014 to encourage debate between ministers on "thematic issues."

"It’s a fine balance," said one participant in the meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "In an ideal world we would go very far, but it has to be small steps... It's very important because the rule of law is what we've based our community on and we should take it very seriously."

The plenary is expected to vote on the proposal later this month.