On Wednesday 12 April, the First Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, announced after a discussion of the College on the situation in Hungary that decisions may be made at the end of the month against Budapest, for instance in the framework of the Commission's monthly package of infringements.
There are, however, no current plans to go any further, for instance by activating the rule of law mechanism.
Any infringement procedures against Hungary may specifically concern initiatives deemed of concern by the Commission, most recently a law on foreign universities (which are required to have a campus in their country of origin), which jeopardises the George Soros Central European University, and the law on NGOs (see EUROPE 11763).
The Commission is also looking at the law on asylum seekers, who can be automatically detained in the border areas of the country. The situation of pregnant women at work or of the Roma in Hungary are also causes for concern, as is the "Stop Brussels" consultation, launched by Viktor Orban's government on 1 April and to which the Commission will respond.
However, despite all these worrying initiatives, the First Vice-President was quite clear on Wednesday: the Commission can see no systemic risk to the rule of law in Hungary, unlike Poland, which is the subject of a rule of law procedure (see EUROPE 11752). It even finds that unlike what is going on in Warsaw, the Hungarian authorities have proven entirely disposed to talk to the Commission and remain open to dialogue, whilst the Polish government has categorically rejected this.
The First Vice-President also called for this dialogue with Budapest to continue, to provide a broader view of the situation in Hungary. However, he asked the European Parliament to continue to debate the situation in Hungary, also urging the member states to get involved in the dossier. As with Poland, which will theoretically be the subject of a discussion at a General Affairs Council on 16 May, the member states are likely to discuss Hungary.
Real concerns and questions
However, the European official did acknowledge that there were real concerns and questions about the compatibility of the actions taken with European legislation, particularly on asylum.
As regards the fate of the Georges Soros University, the First Vice-President said that although it was entirely valid to ask how foreign universities are funded, the law should remain proportionate and not create discrimination.
The recently adopted higher education law harms many people in the European University community, as well as politicians across Europe and beyond. Many perceive it as an attempt to close down the Central European University, Timmermans explained.
Universities must be places where the freedom of thought and diversity of opinions are cherished and protected, he added. This new law could clearly impinge upon EU competences, he stressed.
However, no decisions will be made until the end of the month, when the Commission completes its legal analysis. This is also the case for the new asylum rules, which also raise serious doubts as to their compatibility with EU law. The College will be keeping a very close eye on whether timely progress can be made, added Timmermans.
In any case, the European Commission's response seems to be a very slender one. Its President, Jean-Claude Juncker, said last week that he did not like this decision on universities and said that the 'Stop Brussels' questionnaire, on European migration policies, says more about the author of the questionnaire than anything else.
ALDE described the Commission's response to a government of the Christian Democrat political family as extremely disappointing. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)