EU Ministers for European Affairs held, on Tuesday 12 April in Luxembourg, their fourth ‘country-by-country’ discussion on the Rule of law since 2020 on the basis of the European Commission’s latest annual report (see EUROPE 12766/2). For this exercise led this time by the French Presidency of the EU Council, five countries were on the agenda - Hungary, Luxembourg, Malta, Austria and the Netherlands - questioned on the fight against corruption, the independence of the judiciary, the balance of power or media pluralism.
Although the exchange between ministers was “open and constructive”, as described by the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune, the focus was on Hungary, a country against which the Commission has just activated the conditionality mechanism for European funds and which will also be the subject of a hearing under the ‘Article 7’ procedure during the next General Affairs Council.
For the Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, the dialogue showed that Hungary had made progress in terms of the efficiency of the judicial system, for example through the digitalisation of procedures, but on the fundamental problems linked to corruption, the balance of power or media pluralism, “there are concerns”.
In particular, the Commissioner cited the political publicity prior to the 3 April elections, which largely favoured the incumbent and created “political influence”. He also cited the case of Klub Radio, an independent radio station that can no longer broadcast and operates only online.
On the conditionality of European funds, which was not on the ministers’ agenda, the Commissioner justified the Commission’s action, which has “a sufficiently solid file” to launch the first actions under this regulation, in principle around 27 April.
The Commissioner did not want to specify at this stage what specific funds would be involved, while the Hungarian Justice Minister, Judit Varga, had expressed her concern in the morning “as the money from the recovery or the new multiannual budgetary framework” has not been paid to Hungary. “How can Hungary be in violation?”, she said.
For his part, the French Secretary of State considered that the large victory of Fidesz on 3 April in the parliamentary elections did not justify interrupting these dialogues on the Rule of law in Hungary. This does not “mean that the fundamental question of the functioning of the Rule of law should not be asked”, and doing so in the context of these ‘country-by-country’ discussions shows the “non-discriminatory nature” of this exercise.
The discussion on Hungary lasted about 30 minutes, according to one source. The minister said she was open to dialogue and to providing the requested answers, but reiterated her scepticism about this exercise, which ultimately aims to apply a double standard to Hungary, as the country does not pursue the same liberal policy as others, she is said to have argued.
Poland did not intervene in this discussion on Hungary, but spoke on behalf of other countries, again arguing that double standards were being applied to it. Around ten countries were reported to have spoken at the discussion, with several ministers questioning why Hungary had not yet made progress on the concerns raised since 2020.
In any case, on arriving in Luxembourg in the morning, Ms Varga deplored the fact that her partners were once again asking her about the Rule of law, whereas in times of war in Ukraine, “we should show solidarity and unity” and focus on that.
For the other countries surveyed, the Commissioner noted Luxembourg’s good progress in digitising the judicial system and Malta’s progress in strengthening judicial independence, although there remains a problem of efficiency, as the island has “the lowest number of judges per capita” in the EU.
The Commission’s next annual report is due in July and will include more specific recommendations. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)