The fourth hearing with Hungary on the state of the rule of law under the Article 7 procedure on Monday 23 May gave rise to a more “positive” and “constructive” exchange, in the words of the Czech Minister for European Affairs, Mikuláš Bek, who replaced his French counterpart Clément Beaune, who was held up in Paris for the first Council of Ministers of Emmanuel Macron’s second five-year term.
However, there has been “no [concrete] progress” in the country, commented European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders.
This fourth hearing allowed around 18 Member States to discuss with Hungary issues as diverse as media pluralism and the independence of the media regulator, the protection of privacy or the Child Protection Act, which is seen as an attack on LGBTIQ people.
“All the important developments of the past months were discussed”, the Commissioner reported, confirming that there had been real discussions and also noting positive developments, such as the increase in the salaries of judges and prosecutors, as well as the quality of the 3 April parliamentary election process, as reported in an initial OSCE assessment.
But concerns remain, notably about the independence of the media regulator, whose members “are all appointed by the ruling party”, and the non-renewal of Klub Radio’s licence. The Child Protection Act also continues to be a concern for the European Commission, which is assessing how to take infringement proceedings further.
“Yes, there may have been more progress today, more exchanges, but I cannot give more positive developments and I regret that” the Commissioner insisted, indicating however that the dialogue was continuing, including on the funds for Hungary’s recovery plan, which is still suspended by the Commission.
The discussion on Monday was in any case “courteous”, a source said. But it was the Czech Presidency itself, which will take the lead of the EU Council in July, that questioned the relevance of these listening exercises, having described them as “long monologues” so far, in the words of Mikuláš Bek.
The Minister has announced that he will discuss with the Commission in the coming weeks how to rethink this listening exercise. “There is a need to review the process”, the Minister added, while the European Parliament has already declared these hearings to be inoperative as they have not led to any significant changes in Hungary or Poland so far.
The government’s latest electoral success supersedes “concerns about the rule of law”, Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga said on her arrival in Brussels. “People support the government’s policy towards Europe and a mandate from more than three million people supersedes everything”, she said. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)