The European Commission decided on Thursday 25 July to launch a triple legal action against Hungary in the field of migration.
First, it decided to bring an action before the Court of Justice of the EU concerning the Hungarian law known as 'anti-Soros', under which the government authorises the criminalisation of the activity of NGOs assisting migrants, in particular to help them to seek asylum.
In a press release, the institution explained that after two unsatisfactory responses from Budapest, a letter of formal notice in July 2018 and a reasoned opinion in January 2019, it considers that the law in question remains problematic on a number of points: by criminalizing support for asylum applications, it restricts the right of asylum seekers to communicate with and be assisted by the national, international and non-governmental organisations concerned.
The new law and the constitutional amendment on asylum have "introduced new grounds for declaring an asylum application inadmissible", thus restricting the right of asylum to persons arriving in Hungary. The Commission therefore considers that the Hungarian law violates not only both the Asylum Procedures Directive and that on reception conditions, but also the directive on the conditions to be met by asylum seekers and the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
On the same day, it also addressed Hungary's practices of food deprivation towards migrants who are the subject of a return decision and who are detained in the transitional zone on the border with Serbia. On this subject, the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Budapest with a deadline of one month rather than the two in the usual procedure.
Finally, on another subject, the Commission has brought an action before the Court of Justice of the EU against Hungary concerning the exclusion applied by Hungary to non-Member State nationals with long-term resident status to practise the profession of veterinary surgeon. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)