Member States again heard from Hungary on Tuesday 10 December on the potential problems of non-compliance with the rule of law principles identified in the country.
In this second hearing (the first exercise took place in September), the EU Ministers for European Affairs focused more specifically on the independence of the judiciary, freedom of the media and academic freedom. Their discussion was “frank, but respectful”, commented Finnish Minister for European Affairs Tytti Tuppurainen, who, in the morning, had met informally with the European Parliament and its rapporteur, Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield (Greens/EFA, France).
Confidential and held in camera in the presence of the Vice-President of the Commission, Věra Jourová, in charge of Values and Transparency, and the Commissioner of Justice, Didier Reynders, the two-hour session was nevertheless largely disclosed by the Hungarian government spokesperson, Zoltan Kovacs.
On his Twitter account, the Secretary of State for Communication and Spokesman for the Government of Viktor Orbán commented from within on each Member State’s speech, which led him to be called to order.
At the end of the hearing, the Finnish Presidency, through Ms Tuppurainen, expressed its dissatisfaction and considered these comments directly from the spokesperson to be very “disappointing”. The latter had also started his morning tweets by assimilating the Council of the EU and the European Council into the “Georges Soros orchestra”. An “outrageous” remark for the Finnish minister, who recalled that “anti-Semitism has no place in the EU”.
The Vice-President for Interinstitutional Relations, Maroš Šefčovič, who was replacing his colleagues at the end of the meeting, also found “this procedural violation” and attacks on ministers “unacceptable”.
The Finnish minister thus asked Budapest for “written explanations” “to be sent quickly”, she said at the press conference. This live transcript was quite “shocking”, the Finnish woman commented. A feeling shared by the other delegations.
Luxembourg Minister Jean Asselborn, for his part, asked Zoltan Kovacs to leave the room, reported two other sources.
Beyond these tensions, 12 Member States took the floor on Tuesday: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Portugal, Slovenia, Ireland and Sweden. Their questions focused in part on media concentration and the situation of the ‘KESMA conglomerate’ and how to appoint members of a media council that includes only people from Fidesz. Several countries also highlighted their concern that Hungary’s score in terms of press freedom worldwide has dropped considerably, with the country in 87th place, down 14 points from 2018 in Reporters Without Borders’ ranking.
They also questioned Hungarian officials about the situation of the Central European University, which had to transfer part of its curriculum to Vienna.
The independence of the judiciary and the implementation of a law to increase the powers of the Constitutional Court were also mentioned.
As in September, the Hungarian government, which was formally represented by the Minister of Justice, Judit Varga, and the Minister of Innovation and Technology, László Palkovics, was “very well prepared and provided extremely detailed answers”, according to a source who considered that the tone of the exchanges was generally correct and professional. Another observer considered that the hearing, despite a more tense context than in September, had been of high quality and had allowed for a substantive discussion on all these points with very well argued answers from Budapest. However, it is difficult to know whether the exercise reassured ministers.
At this stage, none of them has requested a new hearing. The next Croatian Presidency of the EU Council, which has not spoken, has not yet revealed its intentions either.
The Finnish Minister assured the EU Council that she would remain “apprised” of the matter and that she considered that this exercise was also a good opportunity for the Member States concerned to be able to explain themselves. She considered that the commitments to continue the processes had been given by the Commission on 10 December “and that is good news”.
This process of dialogue on the rule of law really has “value”, Ms Tuppurainen stressed. “This is not a trial, we’re not hunting anyone”.
According to the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Amélie de Montchalin, it is important that the EU Council remain apprised of the matter, but the process should also be improved and a real assessment made, for example, of these hearings. “What points are still open for further discussion? Which ones have been answered and can be closed?”, the Frenchwoman went into detail.
Poland
Mr Reynders also made an item on the Polish file, also on the agenda. He reviewed the latest judgment of the Court of Justice on the independence of the judicial system (see EUROPE 12372/28, 12384/28).
But the item was brief and did not provide an opportunity for Member States to speak, according to one source. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)