The College of Commissioners is expected to take stock, on Sunday 18 September, of negotiations with the Hungarian authorities on measures that Viktor Orbán’s government is prepared to take to address the European Commission’s concerns about respect for the Rule of law (see EUROPE 13019/7).
These discussions, initiated under the procedure based on the ‘Rule of Law’ regulation, have led to some progress, according to the European institution, in particular the commitment made by Budapest to set up an independent authority to fight corruption.
However, the Commission is expected to consider that this progress does not go far enough and propose to the Council of the European Union to impose a financial penalty on EU funds that Hungary is expected to receive under the cohesion policy. The exact amount of such a penalty was not disclosed, as the partnership agreements with Budapest have yet to be adopted.
The Ecofin Council will reportedly have 3 months to act on the Commission’s proposal, but a decision could be taken as early as November. In the meantime, the Hungarian government could announce new measures that could allow it to avoid a sanction, something unheard of at this stage.
For the Commission, this sequence would allow it to maintain pressure on the Hungarian authorities, knowing that they are negotiating in parallel their €5.8 billion recovery plan under the Next Generation EU Recovery Plan. Some of the measures in the ‘Rule of Law’ procedure could also be milestones in the Hungarian recovery plan, which Budapest must secure by the end of 2022.
According to EU law, Member States, if asked, will decide by qualified majority on a possible financial penalty to Hungary. Such a qualified majority would not be guaranteed, particularly in view of recent (Sweden) and forthcoming (Italy) elections which could change the political balance in the EU Council.
Very active on the issue, MEP Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA, German) questioned, on Thursday 15 September, the ability of the measures reportedly agreed by the Commission and the Hungarian government to solve the problems of the Rule of law and the protection of the EU’s financial interests in Hungary. “There is nothing on the independence of prosecutors, of judges. The media are outside the scope“ of the regulation, he told some journalists.
His compatriot Moritz Körner (Renew Europe) criticised the style of governance of the future independent authority, a measure of which the EU Commissioner for the Budget, Johannes Hahn would be “proud”. He also pointed to the fact that half of all public procurement in Hungary is done by a single bidder.
“I want a situation where we freeze the funding given the situation and then, with reforms, step by step make the leash longer when the signs are really there”, Mr Freund stressed.
However, neither MEP has seen the full list of measures that the ‘Orbán’ government would commit to implementing. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)