On Tuesday 28 April, the Chair of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, Germany’s Manfred Weber, spoke out in favour of ending the so-called ‘Article 7’ procedure of the Treaty on European Union concerning respect for the Rule of law in Hungary, following the defeat of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the parliamentary elections at the beginning of April.
“We must stop the ‘Article 7’ procedure targeting Hungary”, Mr Weber said of the procedure, which was initiated in September 2018 by the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12094/14) and has led to seven specific hearings within the ‘General Affairs’ Council, without ever resulting in any concrete action by the EU Council targeting Hungary.
As the elected Hungarian Prime Minister, Péter Magyar, meets the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen (see EUROPE 13857/19), on Wednesday to refine the work on the measures required of Budapest to gain access to €17 billion of frozen European funds, Mr Weber called on Parliament to take action to build a new relationship of “trust” with the future Hungarian authorities.
Asked about this issue, his counterpart in the S&D group, Spain’s Iratxe García Pérez, welcomed Mr Magyar’s election, which opens “a window of opportunity for Hungary to once again become a reliable ally of European policies”. However, in her view, it is important to “take (the) time” with the ‘Article 7’ procedure and wait for “several stages” to be completed beforehand, including the entry into office of the Magyar government. And she indicated that her political family would support him in his efforts to restore the Rule of law. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Solenn Paulic)