The European Commissioners for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, and for Justice, Didier Reynders, sent a letter to the Hungarian Justice Minister on Wednesday 23 June detailing the Commission’s “legal concerns” about the Hungarian bill discriminating against LGBTI people (see EUROPE 12743/24).
The latter includes amendments to ban the portrayal of homosexuality or trans-identifying people in schools, media and public service advertisements for those under 18.
The letter makes it clear that while the original aim of the bill - to protect children from paedophilia - is legitimate, the initiative has been “used in a way that discriminates against people based on their sex and sexual orientation”.
The Commission therefore sees this as a violation of Article 2 of the EU Treaty, which calls for respect for human rights and non-discrimination, in particular of persons belonging to minorities.
The institution also deplores a violation of the principle of non-discrimination enshrined in Article 21 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. It also points out that several provisions of the bill, if implemented, would be incompatible with the Audiovisual Media Services Directive as well as the E-Commerce Directive.
The subject on the agenda of the Heads of State?
The bill “is a shame”, the President of the European Commission said on the same day at a press conference on the Belgian recovery plan.
“I will use all the powers of the Commission to ensure that the rights of all European citizens are guaranteed, whoever they are and wherever they live in the European Union”, she promised.
The previous day, the subject was discussed at the General Affairs Council and led to a heated exchange with the Hungarian government on Tuesday. At the time, several countries supported a joint statement calling on the Commission to use all possible legal tools against the bill (see EUROPE 12746/1).
Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Austria joined the declaration on Wednesday. Seventeen countries are currently signatories: Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden, Denmark and Latvia.
The issue is also expected to be on the agenda of the EU summit starting on Thursday 24 June (see other news), at the request of several capitals. If it is discussed, it will not be formally, however, but more likely at the dinner, a senior European official confirmed.
Several diplomats also considered it inevitable that there would be no follow-up on this incident at Council level.
To consult the Commission's letter: https://bit.ly/2SYTlf1 (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)