On Wednesday 27 November, the Member States' ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) agreed on the content of Hungary's hearing on respect for the rule of law by the Hungarian authorities, which will take place on 10 December at the General Affairs Council.
They endorsed the idea proposed by the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU to narrow the focus of this exercise, the second one for Hungary, after the hearing on 16 September which had covered the issues raised in the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12328/1). The forthcoming hearing will focus on three themes: the independence of the judicial system, freedom of expression and academic freedom.
The hearing, scheduled to last three hours, is expected to take place in the morning. On the morning of 10 December, the Finnish Presidency is also expected to hold an informal breakfast with the European Parliament, which triggered the procedure known as 'Article 7' in September 2018 (see EUROPE 12094/14), but is not allowed to participate in ministerial sessions on the subject, a ban it regularly complains about.
Poland. The European Affairs Ministers will also take stock of the state of the rule of law in Poland, with the Commission expected to review the 'Article 7' procedure launched against Warsaw in December 2017.
Here too, Poland and other national delegations may intervene if they so wish. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)