On Tuesday 3 September, the Hungarian Minister for European Affairs, János Bóka, confirmed that his country’s authorities had received the second letter from the European Commission concerning the payment of a fine imposed by the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to comply with a previous ruling of December 2020 on the management of migratory flows (see EUROPE 13431/18).
“We have two ways of paying this fine: either directly, or by deducting the sum from the European funds allocated to Hungary”, he said, without specifying which solution would be chosen. He noted a contradiction between the efforts made by the Hungarian government to defend the EU’s external borders over almost 10 years and the lack of “solidarity” shown towards his country.
Hungary is criticised for making it virtually impossible to grant asylum in the country, which has the effect of transferring this responsibility to other EU Member States. In its judgment, the Court found that Hungary had “disregarded the principle of sincere cooperation by deliberately evading the application of the EU common policy on international protection as a whole and the rules relating to the removal of illegally staying third-country nationals”.
Hungary had until 30 August to pay the lump-sum fine of €200 million imposed on it in June by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). As no payment had been made by Friday 30 August, the European Commission authorised a 15-day extension. If Budapest does not pay the lump-sum fine by 17 September, the Commission will trigger a compensation procedure, which would involve withdrawing the fine total from the share of the EU budget allocated to Hungary.
In addition, €21 billion of European funding for Hungary remains blocked due to the decline in the rule of law in the country (see EUROPE 13313/9).
In addition to the lump sum of €200 million, there is a penalty payment of €1 million per day dating from the publication of the CJEU ruling on Thursday 13 June, until Hungary complies with EU rules. (Original version in French by Florent Servia and Mathieu Bion)