A majority of MEPs in a debate in Strasbourg on Wednesday 16 February felt that there was no time to lose before launching proceedings against Poland and Hungary under the regulation making the payment of EU funds conditional on respect for the Rule of law, after the EU Court of Justice gave the green light (see EUROPE 12892/1).
“This is a good day”, said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola (EPP, Malta), urging speedy implementation of the regulation. “Europe and the Rule of law are non-negotiable”, she said as a preamble to the debate on the consequences of the Court of Justice’s judgment on the regulation that links the payment of EU funds to respect for the Rule of law.
The French Presidency of the EU Council welcomes legal clarification. “The Rule of law is our treasure”, said Clément Beaune, the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, on behalf of the EU Council.
“The validity of the regulation is confirmed. The Court’s judgment is clear on the dismissal of the appeals, and we have a new legal tool in our hands”, explained Mr Beaune. He welcomed “a legal clarification that was essential”.
It is now up to the European Commission to take the necessary measures to implement the regulation, the Secretary of State said. The European Commission will have to finalise the guidelines to ensure the proper application of the text and will have to implement this instrument. If the European Commission considers that the conditions set out in Article 4 of the regulation are fulfilled, it could send a formal written notification to the Member States concerned.
“The French Presidency of the Council is ready to fulfil the role assigned to us by this essential legislative work. We have strengthened our legal arsenal”, Mr Beaune also stressed.
EU Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn said that the two Court judgments would be analysed so that the European Commission could “finalise the guidelines”. The European Commission intends to act quickly, he promised, in the face of impatience in the Chamber.
Mr Hahn also assured that the European Commission had started to implement the text since the beginning of 2021, with letters having been sent to Poland and Hungary requesting information to support our analysis (see EUROPE 12837/14). “We are currently studying the responses of these two countries. The conditions are right to act decisively”, he summarised.
On behalf of the EPP group, Romanian Siegfried Mureșan welcomed the Court of Justice’s judgments, saying that EU money should be protected and should go to the people, not to politicians who attack the Rule of law. “We need to start the work and implement this legislation without any delay”, concluded Mr Mureșan.
“This is a day of victory”, said S&D group president Iratxe García of Spain. “We cannot wait any longer, we must act”, she demanded, addressing European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, whose absence from the plenary debate she, like others, regretted.
Katalin Cseh (Renew Europe, Hungary) denounced the “populism” of Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian Prime Minister. The European Commission must not waste any more time and the regulation must be implemented immediately, according to the MEP.
Terry Reintke (Greens/EFA, Germany) insisted on the “union of values”. She criticised the European Commission’s procrastination. “And we are ready to postpone the discharge until the European Commission” does its work on the conditionality regulation, she warned.
EU funds should not go to countries that violate the Rule of law, continued Malin Björk (The Left, Sweden), who cited Poland and Hungary. She criticised the “bureaucratic” discourse from the European Commission and the EU Council.
The far right persists. For Gunnar Beck (ID, Germany), the Court of Justice has made a “flexible interpretation” of the treaties. Poland and Hungary are treated differently than Germany, he criticised. Patryk Jaki (ECR, Poland) felt that this regulation is being used to make “accusations” against Poland.
“I understand why the UK left” the EU, said Milan Uhrík (NI, Slovakia). He defended the Hungarian law “against paedophiles in schools”. “You think you are the masters of Europe”, said Mr Uhrík, who hopes Poland and Hungary will stand up to the other EU countries.
The Parliament’s rapporteurs ask the European Commission not to play for time. Earlier, to the press, the European Parliament’s rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs on the ‘Rule of law conditionality’ regulation asked the European Commission not to play for time.
Rapporteur Petri Sarvamaa (EPP, Finland) said he was very “moved” by the Court of Justice’s verdict. The last hurdle to the regulation has now been cleared, he said, saying it was high time to start implementing it. The protection of the EU budget is in the hands of the European Commission, he added.
According to the rapporteur, the situation regarding the Rule of law has deteriorated for too long, not only in Hungary and Poland, but also in some other Member States. He also criticised the European Commission for waiting until after the elections in Hungary before cracking down.
For Eider Gardiazabal (S&D, Spain), the European Commission cannot waste time before acting on behalf of EU citizens.
The foundations of the EU are strengthened by this landmark judgment, said Katalin Cseh. The European Commission should play its role as guardian of the treaties instead of “making excuses and dragging its feet” while “the principles of the Rule of law continue to be undermined in Hungary and Poland”, she argued. She spoke of the growing corruption and destruction of the Rule of law in Hungary.
The crisis of the Rule of law has worsened in Europe, said Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, Germany). He referred to the appeal filed by the Parliament against the European Commission for failure to implement the regulation. We must not wait for the end of a presidential campaign--European taxpayers must be protected, he said.
The Parliament has the right to delay the granting of discharge and to freeze certain funds in the EU budget. “These are the tools at our disposal if our call continues to be ignored”, warned Mr Freund.
The European Commission was ready in October, according to MEPs. In response to questions from the press on the European Commission’s future guidelines for implementing the Regulation, Mr Freund said that the European Commission could adopt these guidelines “in a few days” rather than the “few weeks” mentioned by Mrs von der Leyen.
According to Mr Sarvamaa, the guidelines are a smokescreen. The European Commission was ready to send out these notifications last October, but the stamp was not put on the letters, he said. “For political reasons, nothing has been done”, he regretted. According to him, these guidelines could be published within two or three weeks.
“There is no need to delay the process”, said Eider Gardiazabal. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)