On Wednesday 17 January in Strasbourg, MEPs criticised European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s December decision to unfreeze €10.2 billion to Hungary, denouncing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s “blackmail”.
The MEPs, who will vote on a recommendation on Hungary on 18 January, also attacked the powerlessness of the Member States and their refusal to make progress on the ‘Article 7’ procedure on the rule of law, which, under Article 7.2, makes it possible to establish the existence of a violation of European values and to open up the possibility of suspending Hungary’s voting rights (see EUROPE 13329/7).
Although Ursula von der Leyen and Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, a little later, when Ms von der Leyen left the Chamber, assured Parliament that the decision had been taken in full compliance with the rules, and that Hungary had carried out the judicial reforms that had been requested of it, the vast majority of MEPs felt that the Commission and the EU27 had “given in to Orbán’s blackmail”, as Portuguese Socialist Pedro Marques put it.
“When we took office, we promised to preserve the rule of law in our Union, while being fair to all Member States. I have made this a priority for my Commission. That’s why this Commission created the annual reports on the rule of law. And we have used all the instruments at our disposal to protect both our values and the EU’s financial interests”, the President began by explaining.
“Our aim has always been to encourage reform in the Member States, in order to improve the lives of every European. Last May, Hungary adopted a new law on the reform of the justice system, which takes account of a number of recommendations made in the 2022 report. This law strengthens the independence of the judiciary and limits the scope for political interference in the judicial system. This law was necessary for Hungary to meet the conditions for obtaining cohesion funds. That’s what we asked for - and Hungary delivered”.
At the same time, “around €20 billion remains frozen. These funds have been suspended for reasons that concern, in particular, the rights of LGBTIQ people, academic freedom and asylum rights. They will remain blocked until Hungary meets all the necessary conditions”, she added.
In the meantime, Hungary has also received pre-financing from RePowerEU under the “rules that we have all accepted. And we will follow them. This is what distinguishes the rule of law from arbitrary power”, she continued, addressing the MEPs.
Also present at the debate, the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib, stated that the rule of law was “at the heart of our political action”. However, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU has been criticised by a number of MEPs for its lack of ambition, notably by France’s Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield (Greens/EFA), Parliament’s rapporteur on the ‘Article 7’ procedure concerning Hungary.
She regretted that Belgium had abandoned the intention it still had in 2022 to work on recommendations under Article 7.1, thereby increasing the pressure on Hungary.
While the Belgian Presidency has only scheduled two hearings with Hungary and Poland for the time being, the Greens/EFA MEP called on Belgium to return to its initial plans before April, the deadline for Parliament to give its consent to these recommendations, she later told EUROPE.
In the meantime, the resolution to be put to the vote on Thursday 18 January does, for the time being, call on the Council of the EU to note the existence of these violations of European values in Hungary; a unanimous vote that would then open the final stage, namely the withdrawal of voting rights at the Council of the EU.
The vote on a motion of no confidence still in the balance
However, two unknowns remain on the eve of the vote on the resolution:
- Strongly opposed to a resolution that would approve a vote of no confidence in the European Commission on the subject of releasing the money for Hungary, the EPP group may not support the resolution in its entirety, several sources have indicated. The Renew Europe group has tabled an amendment to this vote of no confidence. The suspension of Viktor Orbán’s voting rights should not be ruled out, explained Dutch MEP Malik Azmani during the debate, saying that “we can no longer give in to the demands” of the Hungarian leader. For his part, Belgian Renew Europe MEP Guy Verhofstadt warned that the Commission would face “huge problems at the European Parliament” if it were still to release new funds for Hungary on 1 February, as part of the EU leaders’ discussions on the Ukraine Facility or the EU budget. “We absolutely must stop giving in to Orbán’s blackmail”, he said, arguing that the Member States could very well keep going with just the 26 of them.
- Another point still unresolved ahead of Thursday’s vote is the degree of severity of the language used by the elected representatives with regard to the future Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. An amendment by The Left calls on the Council of the EU to suspend it now. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)