On Tuesday 21 October, the European Affairs Ministers of the EU27 held their ninth hearing of Hungary under the ‘Article 7’ procedure of the Treaty on European Union on respect for the rule of law.
At the end of the meeting, the Danish Minister for European Affairs, Marie Bjerre, explained that “Hungary continues to reject the concerns” and to judge this procedure as “politically motivated, which is not the case”.
The Minister referred to the very strong interventions of the Member States during this hearing, while “serious concerns” persist.
And the Member States want “action” and to continue the dialogue on Article 7.
Alongside her, the European Commissioner for Justice, Michael McGrath, said that he had taken stock of the problems observed in Hungary, from the Bureau created by the law on sovereignty, which attacks journalists and the media, to laws aimed at restricting freedom of association and the “obstruction of civic space”. The Commissioner considered it useful to maintain this forum for dialogue, as the so-called ‘Article 7’ procedure, initiated by the European Parliament in 2018, should remain open “until everything has been settled”.
The discussion lasted about an hour, and around ten member countries took the floor.
While the discussion focused primarily on the substance of the problems observed in Hungary and not on the tools available to the EU to enforce the rule of law, Sweden had circulated a note ahead of the meeting on the link between the rule of law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the context of the new MFF.
“Sweden don’t want to see a single euro going to Member States that do not respect our fundamental European values. In the next EU Budget, all screws need to be tightened”, commented Minister Jessica Rosencrantz.
Sweden, for example, wants to look at possible new safeguards to protect the entire European budget, whereas the so-called ‘horizontal’ conditions in relation to the Charter seem to relate mainly to national and regional investment plan funds.
“We appreciate that there is a clear focus on rule of law conditionality in the Commission’s (budget) proposal. Our proposals aim to close all potential loopholes and ensure a swift and fact-based decision-making process”, added the Minister.
Link to Sweden’s note: https://aeur.eu/f/j2p (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)