On Wednesday 13 December, the European Commission made the decision to release €10.2 billion in cohesion funds, having found, after what it described as an “in-depth” assessment, that the Hungarian authorities had taken the necessary measures to comply with the condition relating to the horizontal application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in Hungary.
The EU institution justifies this decision by the adoption in Hungary of measures contributing to the independence of the judicial system, in particular: - increasing the powers of the independent National Judicial Council; - reforming the functioning of the Supreme Court to limit risks of political influence; - removing the possibility for the Supreme Court to review questions that judges intend to refer to the European Court of Justice; - removing the role of the Constitutional Court in reviewing final decisions by judges on request of public authorities.
The Commission promises to closely monitor the implementation of these reforms and says it is ready to reverse its decision if the conditions are no longer met.
In December 2022, the EU Council took measures under the ‘rule of law conditionality’ regulation to protect the EU’s financial interests against breaches of the rule of law in Hungary in the areas of public procurement and the fight against corruption (see EUROPE 13082/2). Despite numerous exchanges with Budapest, the Commission considers, a year later, that the Hungarian authorities have not remedied the infringements observed, so it is maintaining the freeze on the three cohesion policy programmes concerned, with a budget of €6.3 billion.
As for the revised Hungarian post-Covid-19 recovery plan (see EUROPE 13074/1), the Commission is of the opinion that the Orbán government has not complied with all 27 prior agreed measures, four of which concern the independence of the judiciary. According to it, no payment request related to this plan can be honoured at this stage.
The EU institution reiterates that it maintains its negative opinion on the way in which children’s rights, the rights of asylum seekers and academic rights are respected in Hungary. Until these fears are allayed, claims for reimbursement under the programmes concerned will not be honoured, she warns.
A total of €21 billion in European funding for Hungary remains blocked.
In the European Parliament, Finland’s Petri Sarvamaa (EPP) denounced the Commission’s catastrophic decision , while Germany’s Daniel Freund (Greens/EFA) described it as the biggest bribe in the history of the EU. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)