On Tuesday 28 January, the European affairs ministers of the EU27 discussed the state of the Rule of law in four Member States: Hungary, Slovenia, Romania and Portugal.
This exercise was part of the traditional ‘Annual Rule of Law Dialogue’, based on the Commission’s report published last July.
This report takes stock of the independence of the judiciary, the plurality of the media, the anti-corruption framework and democratic checks and balances in all Member States, and the 2025 edition will include a specific chapter on the Internal market.
At the final press conference, the European Commissioner for Justice, Michael McGrath, reiterated that the rule of law is the “foundation on which our Union rests” and requires constant attention and dialogue. The Rule of law is also a component of the EU’s overall competitiveness drive, the Commissioner stressed.
In the case of Hungary, he emphasised the persistence of “major concerns” and advocated dialogue with Budapest, with the Commission always ready to assist Member States with their reforms. It is also important for these reforms to be introduced in the “most transparent” way, added the Commissioner.
The discussion on these four countries lasted almost two hours. The situation regarding the cancellation of the presidential election in Romania was discussed, but the debate on Hungary was the longest, lasting about an hour, according to one source. The tone remained courteous, with no confrontations reported.
When asked about the fact that, in late 2024, Hungary had granted political asylum to a fugitive Polish PiS lawmaker wanted on corruption charges, the Polish Minister for European Affairs, Adam Szłapka, explained that the matter had not been discussed.
However, he took the opportunity to point out that “Member States are obliged to respect the rules, that’s obvious”, despite the fact that Hungary has no intention of executing the arrest warrant for this individual.
This is a “bilateral” issue between the two countries, he added, but “if a country doesn’t follow the rules, that’s another concern”.
On arriving at the meeting, the Hungarian Minister for European Affairs, János Bóka, criticised the previous Commission.
“Over the past five years, I have discussed the Hungarian anti-corruption framework and the state of the Rule of law in Hungary with a European Commissioner who is currently being prosecuted for money laundering and other corruption offences”, he remarked, referring to the trials and tribulations of former Commissioner Didier Reynders.
Slovakia. Also asked about Slovakia and the ‘Fico’ government’s plans for constitutional changes, Michael McGrath pointed out that constitutional changes were a matter for the Member States, but that the principle of the primacy of European law had been fully established by the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU and was “non-negotiable”.
Indeed, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has announced that he will propose a constitutional amendment.
The Slovak Constitution stipulates that “legally binding acts of the European Communities and the EU take precedence” over national laws.
According to Mr Fico’s plans, this provision should be followed by a clause: “This does not apply if these legally binding acts conflict with the Constitution of the Slovak Republic”, reported Euractiv. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)