On Tuesday 27 May, the EU ministers responsible for European Affairs will hold a new hearing with the Hungarian authorities on respect for the Rule of law in Hungary, the eighth since the European Parliament opened the so-called ‘Article 7’ procedure of the European Treaty in 2018.
Hungary’s last hearing took place in June 2024 under the previous Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union (see EUROPE 13439/9). This new exercise comes at a time when two Hungarian initiatives are of concern to the Commission, MEPs and NGOs: - a law banning the ‘Pride March’ and criminalising participation in the event scheduled for 25 June (see EUROPE 13613/13); - a draft law on transparency in public life that would further target NGOs, the media and LGBTIQ+ people (see EUROPE 13641/29).
On Monday, a Commission spokeswoman, Eva Hrncirova, said that the Commission supported the ‘Pride March’ as a “peaceful gathering”, without saying whether any European commissioners would take part in the march.
On Friday 23 May, the European Commissioner for Justice, Michael McGrath, asked the Hungarian authorities to withdraw this latest bill, which would increase the powers of the Office created by Hungary’s Sovereignty Law and the fight against foreign interference (itself already subject to an infringement procedure), or face further legal proceedings. Another spokesman, Guillaume Mercier, assured that the Commission will “not hesitate to take action” if Budapest went ahead with these initiatives.
With a view to the ‘General Affairs’ Council, the Netherlands will coordinate the drafting of a declaration by several Member States on the situation of LGBTIQ+ people in Hungary, calling on Viktor Orbán’s government to back down on these various plans and on the Commission to take more decisive action against Budapest.
This declaration, which will bring together more than a dozen States, particularly from Northern Europe, will ask the Commission to use all its tools, particularly with regard to the granting of European funds when €18 billion intended for Hungary are already frozen.
However, the holding of this eighth hearing is not expected to produce any concrete results that would allow an important step to be taken in the framework of the ‘Article 7’ procedure, a high-ranking European source said on Monday.
Rule of Law. In addition, the Polish Presidency will lead a twelfth specific ‘country-by-country’ discussion, which will analyse the situation of the independence of the judiciary, media plurality, the balance of checks and balances and the anti-corruption framework in the following four Member States: Sweden, Slovakia, Finland and Belgium.
Democratic resilience. Ministers will also be asked to approve draft conclusions on strengthening the democratic resilience of the EU, as the EU Council’s contribution to the ‘Democracy Shield’ proposal that the Commission intends to present this year.
This European source listed a number of issues addressed in the draft conclusions: strengthening civil society organisations, the link between the EU budget and respect for the Rule of law, and the definition of a whole-society approach.
Over lunch, the ministers will be briefed by the European Commission on the progress of its work on the ‘Democracy Shield’.
Media. It should also be noted that, at the request of the Czech Republic, the Member States will be informed of the work underway to ensure the continuation of Radio Free Europe’s activities, following the US decision to cut its subsidies. The European External Action Service is preparing a proposal to fund this radio with €5.5 million (see EUROPE 13645/39).
Multilingualism. At Spain’s request, the ‘General Affairs’ Council is expected to be asked to take a decision on the proposal to grant three Spanish regional languages - Catalan, Basque and Galician - the status of official languages of the European Union, in accordance with a promise made by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, to the Catalan separatist leader, Carles Puigdemont (see EUROPE 13332/20).
This point is in fact on the ministerial agenda with a view to a decision, this European source confirmed on Monday 26 May, reporting that negotiations had taken place “mainly between capitals”.
The Polish Presidency will decide how to proceed - adoption by acclamation or through a formal vote - depending on the atmosphere in the room.
Some reluctant countries fear that the Spanish request will give other linguistic minorities ideas about having their language granted official EU language status. The Spanish authorities stress that the three regional languages enjoy constitutional recognition in Spain and they undertake to bear all the costs arising from the use of the three languages within the EU institutions.
EUCO. The ministers will begin preparing the work of the European Council, which will meet on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 June. On the agenda for the EU27 meeting will be EU support for Ukraine, the Middle East crisis, European defence, competitiveness and migration.
To see the annotated agenda for the European Council meeting: https://aeur.eu/f/h1v
On Tuesday, the Council of the EU will vote, without debate, on several legislative texts agreed in principle.
‘SAFE’. It will ratify the political agreement in principle, reached by a qualified majority of Member States, on the proposal for a regulation establishing the ‘SAFE’ instrument, which will provide loans of up to €150 billion to help EU countries increase their military spending (see EUROPE 13645/28, 13642/3).
CBAM. The ministers will adopt the EU Council’s position on the ‘omnibus’ text simplifying the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) (see EUROPE 13645/23). As the amendments made by the Member States to the Commission’s proposal are minor, the Polish Presidency of the EU Council hopes to begin and then conclude negotiations with the European Parliament before July. MEPs also adopted their position, which differs little from the initial proposal (see EUROPE 13646/18).
To see the legislative text approved by the EU Council: https://aeur.eu/f/h1z
CO2 emissions from new passenger cars. The ‘General Affairs’ Council will adopt a targeted amendment to the regulation on CO2 standards for new passenger cars and light vans (see EUROPE 13635/18). This amendment allows manufacturers to comply with their obligations for the years 2025, 2026 and 2027 by averaging their performance over the three-year period, rather than over each year.
This text is part of the Automotive Industrial Action Plan presented by the European Commission at the beginning of April (see EUROPE 13646/4, 13612/14).
To see the legislative text: https://aeur.eu/f/h1q (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion, Solenn Paulic and the editorial staff)