On Thursday 6 September, the conference of presidents of the European Parliament's political groups decided to invite Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to the debate in Strasbourg on Tuesday 11 September on the draft Sargentini report about the opening of a Treaty Article 7 procedure on the respect of rule of law in Hungary.
This invitation comes after Orbán spoke of his desire to argue his government's case at the European Parliament's plenary session (see EUROPE 12087) – a prerogative of member state leaders.
Orbán will have the right to the same amount of speaking time as the rapporteur, Judith Sargentini MEP (Greens/EFA, Netherlands), and as the European Commission – after whom he will speak. This speaking time should be 6 to 7 minutes. Orbán will not then have the possibility to respond to MEPs' questions.
The whole European Parliament will then vote on the draft report on Wednesday 12 September. Sargentini said two days ago that the result of the vote would be "tight" (see EUROPE 12088).
The modalities of the vote that will be applied to the draft report are furthermore provoking slight controversy in the Parliament.
The EPP Group, to which members of the ruling Hungarian Fidesz party belong, has asked for a constitutional affairs committee (AFCO) debate to be organised in Strasbourg on Monday evening. It has also requested an opinion from the legal service.
The European Parliament's Christian Democrats are divided about the opening of an Article 7 procedure targeting Hungary, and indeed say that Article 83 of the European Parliament's internal rules is not currently being respected. This article stipulates that the report launching the procedure must be adopted by a two thirds majority of the votes cast.
Indeed, there is a debate on how to count the two thirds of the votes cast, and notably on whether abstentions must be taken into account, a source told EUROPE. This is what the AFCO committee will have to clarify on Monday evening.
The EPP Group is in any case expected to decide its position on Tuesday as to the attitude to adopt at the vote on Wednesday. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)