The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Tuesday 5 April that the procedure under the regulation that allows EU funds to be suspended in the event of a breach of the Rule of law had been triggered against Hungary.
“We need to take the next step. EU Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn spoke today with the Hungarian authorities and informed them that we will send the notification letter to activate the mechanism. There are deadlines, there is a timetable, the procedure has been launched”, said Mrs von der Leyen, as she was speaking to MEPs in Strasbourg to give the European Commission’s mid-term review.
“The problem is corruption. Discussions have been held with Hungary. For the time being, we are not in a position to reach an agreement on these issues”, she also said.
The Court of Justice of the EU rejected the appeals of Poland and Hungary against this Rule of law conditionality mechanism (see EUROPE 12892/1).
‘Article 7’ procedures must continue
The so-called ‘Article 7’ procedures on the Rule of law must continue more than ever for Hungary, and the EU institutions must continue to exert “pressure” on the country, said French MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield (Greens/EFA), who is responsible for the Article 7 reports on Hungary, on 5 April.
The MEP travelled to Hungary for the parliamentary elections on 3 April, which gave a large victory to the Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The elections were very well organised, with a very high turnout, “we must acknowledge”, said the MEP, who nevertheless saw a polarised country and unequal media treatment for the Hungarian opposition, which was only allowed a few minutes on public television.
The MEP was particularly concerned about the persistence of disinformation in Hungarian society, especially about the EU, with government representatives suggesting that the EU would push Hungarian schools to offer sex reassignment from the age of 5. “People believe in it”, said the Greens/EFA MEP, who stressed that the rejection of the 3 April referendum on the LGBTIQ+ population, which was invalidated due to lack of participation, does not mean that “the government will not still exploit it”.
“I listened to Viktor Orbán after his victory and it’s still scary”, reacted the chair of Renew Europe, Stéphane Séjourné, referring to the “enemies” designated by the Hungarian Prime Minister, President Volodymyr Zelensky and ‘Brussels’.
“There is reason to be worried about the next five years”, added the Frenchman.
“We think we need a more active position from the Commission”, said Iratxe García Pérez, chair of the S&D group in the Parliament, on Tuesday morning. “Things are being done to keep Hungary under the Rule of law. The election result shows that we may not have acted firmly enough, that is obvious”. “We are not giving up, we must insist more firmly on these issues”, added the Spaniard.
The French Presidency of the EU Council has scheduled a hearing for Hungary in May. The Parliament will debate these Rule of law tools and their effectiveness on Wednesday. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic and Thomas Mangin)