The European Commission decided on Friday 12 November to refer Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union and asked it to order the payment of financial penalties for Hungary’s failure to comply with a Court ruling on EU asylum and return rules, it said in a statement.
In the December 2020 judgment, the Court found that Hungarian legislation adopted in 2015 and 2017 on the rules and practices in the transit zones between Serbia and Hungary was contrary to EU law.
It had identified violations of the Asylum Procedures Directive, the Reception Conditions Directive and the Return Directive. Hungary has still not given a satisfactory response: “It has not taken the measures necessary to ensure effective access to the asylum procedure. Hungary has also not clarified the conditions pertaining to the right to remain on the territory in case of an appeal in an asylum procedure, when this is not a crisis situation caused by mass immigration”. This is despite a new formal notice in June.
The Commission therefore requests that “the Court impose financial penalties in the form of a lump sum and a daily penalty payment”, the amount of which is to be determined by the Court. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)