EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni did not reveal anything about the content of the ongoing negotiations on the Hungarian and Polish recovery plans under the Next Generation EU Recovery Plan, on Wednesday 6 October during a debate in the European Parliament plenary session.
“Our Union is a place where everyone is held accountable, where corruption is fought, the financial interests of the EU are protected, all people and businesses are equal under the law, the independence of the judiciary is insured. And we have concerns about the situation in some Member States”, Gentiloni said simply.
He recalled that the European Commission analyses national recovery plans on the basis of eleven criteria enshrined in EU law. And these plans must address a substantial part of the socioeconomic policy recommendations issued to Member States.
The deadline for examining the Hungarian and Polish recovery plans has passed without a decision being taken. For Poland, the issue of the independence of the judiciary is fundamental, as is an expected ruling by the Polish judiciary on the primacy of EU law that has been repeatedly postponed. For Hungary, the existence of mechanisms to ensure that the absorption of European financial aid is monitored so that it does not fuel corruption is central to the negotiations.
Representatives of the political groups in Parliament called for maximum “transparency” in the use of the RRF, the budgetary instrument of the European Recovery Plan.
“Taxpayers’ money can only flow if the rules concerning the Rule of law and fundamental European values are respected”, stressed Siegfried Mureșan (EPP, Romania), noting a “very high degree of unity” in Parliament on this issue. For Eider Gardiazabal Rubial (S&D, Spain), given the attitude of the Polish and Hungarian governments, it is very difficult to envisage the adoption of two recovery plans while the regulation linking respect for the Rule of law and the EU budget could be activated against Warsaw and Budapest in the future.
Apart from Gunnar Beck (Identity and Democracy, Germany), who was more concerned with calling for an ‘Article 7’ procedure on the respect of the Rule of law against his own country, Bogdan Rzońca (ECR, Poland) said that the delay in adopting the Polish plan “violates the principles of European solidarity”. He also criticised the opacity of the ongoing discussions. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)