On Monday 12 November in Brussels, the Twenty-Eight European Ministers for European Affairs once again discussed the situation of the rule of law in Hungary and Poland (see EUROPE 12118).
These two Member States are subject to a procedure known as Article 7 of the Treaty, opened by the European Parliament in mid-September, in the Hungarian case (see EUROPE 12094), and by the European Commission in December 2017, in the Polish case (see EUROPE 11930).
Hungary replies in writing to the objections
The ministers first discussed the Hungarian case, with Austrian Gernot Blümel referring to "intensive" discussions on this point.
The government of Viktor Orbán had been invited by the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU to submit written observations on the accusations made against it in a procedure which it considers biased and politically motivated.
On Monday, Budapest presented a document of about a hundred pages, said a source. But the Hungarian Permanent Representation to the EU could not yet make this document public on Monday.
Dutch MEP Judith Sargentini (Greens/EFA), who initiated this procedure, presented the Parliament report she had led. Such a meeting, in which most of the ministers participated, was informal and not linked to the Council procedure, the Austrian Presidency insisted. The Member was accompanied by Claude Moraes (S&D, UK), who chairs the Civil Liberties Committee.
However, according to this source, the ministers did not take a position on the content of this report on Monday or make any specific request, for example, to organise a hearing on the Hungarian case.
Commission requests a third hearing on the Polish case
On the Polish case, the ministers merely reviewed the situation in Poland after the EU Court of Justice ordered Warsaw to stop the implementation of the Supreme Court Act (see EUROPE 12121).
But the 'Poland' item of the General Affairs Council was very short, ‘less than 15 minutes’, according to one source, with no national delegation taking the floor.
The European Commission, through the First Vice-President, Frans Timmermans, requested that a new hearing be held in December, as had been the case in September. However, here again, no delegation expressed an opinion on this possibility.
The Polish Ambassador to the EU, Andrzej Sados, has informed his counterparts that information will be provided by 19 November on how to implement the Court of Justice's order. In addition, a preliminary hearing will be held at the Court on Friday 16 November on the interim measures.
Citizen confidence in public institutions under debate
The ministers also held their annual debate on the situation of the rule of law in general, devoted to citizens' confidence in public institutions (see EUROPE 12132). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)