Brussels, 11/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 11 March, under the uneasy eye of its European partners, the Hungarian Parliament held a session after which a fourth revision of the Constitution was to be voted on, together with amendments which have been criticised by Hungarian NGOs and also by the Council of Europe, which last week called on the Orban government to submit them to it.
These amendments to the fundamental law adopted in early 2011 may amongst other things weaken the control exercised by the Constitutional Court over the parliament, exclude the references to the decisions of the Constitutional Court adopted before January 2012 and ban the Constitutional Court from examining the constitutionality of draft amendments to the fundamental law, the Hungarian media explained. These amendments will also bring about the return of provisions already judged to be anti-constitutional, such as the restriction of the notion of family and the criminalisation of the homeless. In a telephone conversation over the weekend, the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, called on the Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, not to proceed with the vote and to request the opinion of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe. On Friday afternoon, Viktor Orban also held a telephone conversation with the President of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso. Mr Orban has also written a letter in which he gives a guarantee that the amendments under discussion would comply with European law, Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, spokesperson to Mr Barroso, explained on Monday lunchtime. On Friday, four ministers the European affairs, specifically the German, Austrian, finish and Dutch ministers, wrote to the Commission calling upon it to adopt new tools to sanction any movements by Member States away from the fundamental values of the EU. On Monday lunchtime, Mr Barroso's spokesperson once again reiterated that the Commission would not hesitate to use infringements in the event that Hungary once again fails to comply with European law and explained that the President shared the concerns of the Council of Europe. The Commission had planned to react once the amendments had been voted on, which was scheduled for Monday through the day. In Budapest, the Hungarian Socialist party has already announced that it would boycott the vote session by way of protest, according to AFP. Over recent days, thousands of Hungarians have taken to the street to demonstrate against these changes. This latest episode brings to mind the concerns already raised in early 2011 over the Hungarian law on the media, a first illustration of a new constitution already described at the time as liberticide. (SP/transl.fl)