The European Commission adopts, at a college meeting on Sunday, a proposal to suspend part of the EU funds to Hungary for disrespecting the rule of law, forcing compromises so that Budapest does not lose billions of euros.
The information was provided this Thursday to the Lusa agency by community sources, which revealed that, next Sunday, the college of commissioners will adopt an unprecedented proposal to the Council of the European Union (EU) to activate the conditionality mechanism, thus anticipating the suspension of a significant part of Hungary’s EU funds, namely cohesion, for violations of the principles inherent in the rule of law.
The same sources told Lusa that “billions of euros” are at stake, which will “harm” Viktor Orbán’s government, and so that the suspension now proposed does not materialize, Hungary will have to assume strong commitments in terms of State of law and, in particular, matters such as the fight against corruption.
Adopted in 2021, the Cross Compliance Regulation establishes that, in the event of a breach of the rule of law in a given Member State and in situations affecting the financial interests of the EU, the Commission may propose to the Council the adoption of appropriate and proportionate measures . measures, such as the suspension of funds.
Therefore, it will be up to the Council to make a final decision.
This will be the first time that the community executive has threatened to move forward with the conditionality mechanism, despite having already received several calls to do so in relation to Hungary, but also Poland, two countries with open infringement procedures under Article 7 the EU Treaty, due to the existence of recurring infringements of European standards.
Although this process has not progressed, hence the desire to move forward with the conditionality mechanism, Article 7 provides for the possibility of applying preventive measures when there is a clear risk of a serious violation of EU values and sanctions in case of infringing a serious and persistent infringement of Community rules.
Precisely today, the European Parliament defended that Hungary can no longer be considered a full democracy, pointing out that, also due to the “inaction of the European Union”, the situation has deteriorated to the point that the country has become a ” electoral autocracy. “. .
The position of the European Parliament is reflected in a resolution adopted today in the Strasbourg hemicycle, in which the MEPs defend that the funds of the recovery plan be suspended “until the country complies with the recommendations of the EU and the decisions of the courts”.
According to the assembly – an institution that, in 2018, activated the procedure of article 7 of the EU Treaty – “any delay in the procedure would constitute a violation of the rule of law by the Council”, an institution in which the deputy states
According to the text approved today, the lack of decisive action on the part of the EU has contributed to the emergence of a “hybrid regime of electoral autocracy”, that is, a constitutional system in which elections are held, but where the democratic rights norms and standards. .
Some of the main areas of concern for MEPs are the functioning of the constitutional and electoral system, the independence of the judiciary, corruption and conflicts of interest, and freedom of expression, including media pluralism.
Academic freedom, religious freedom, freedom of association, the right to equal treatment, including LGBTIQ rights, the rights of minorities, as well as those of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, are also problematic, according to the European assembly.
Source: TSF
