Brussels, 19/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - As they announced back in 2012, the European Parliament's civil liberties committee did, indeed, vote on Wednesday morning to adopt a report on fundamental rights in Hungary. The report by Rui Tavares (Greens/EFA, Portugal) makes 40 recommendations, calling on the Hungarian government to fully respect the values of the European Union, implying that Article 7 of the EU treaty would be used if the recommendations are not followed.
But opinion is divided on what effect the report will have. The report is exceptional because it mentions Article 7, viewed as the EU's “nuclear bomb”, but, ultimately, remains timid; ALDE MEPs regret that it did not actually recommend launching the Article 7 procedure. The final stage of this procedure suspends member state voting rights at the Council of Ministers. Romanian MEP Renate Weber (ALDE) said the committee had decided, whether from blind political allegiance or lack of will, not to take a strong position on the insidious and persistent threats to democracy, fundamental rights and the primacy of law in Hungary over the past year. The Greens/EFA and S&D said they were happy with the outcome. Rui Tavares explained that, with the report, the European Parliament had drawn up in very clear list of recommendations, urging the Hungarian government yet again to align itself with the European principles of democracy and the ruke of law.
The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, took a more cautious approach, welcoming the report, and also the Hungarian government's cooperation with the EP. Schulz expressed concern about the recently published view of the Venice Commission on the latest changes to the Hungarian constitution, but at the same time said that the monitoring of fundamental rights in the EU extended beyond Hungary and all the member states had to ensure compliance. The MEPs recommended the establishment of a “Copenhagen mechanism” to see whether countries once in the EU properly respect the criteria upon which they were allowed to join. Some sources close to the matter say that the EP and Commission are wasting their breath on Hungary because it was when it joined the EU and when applying the Copenhagen Criteria to Hungary that a re-writing of the constitution should have been demanded because Viktor Orban is abusing the power he is granted by the constitution itself. (SP/transl.fl)