Although there is some improvement in certain areas, “in most areas the situation is still alarming”, and there are places where it has worsened – states the European Parliament’s resolution on the Hungarian rule of law voted on Wednesday. In addition to 399 in favor of the final text, 117 did not, and 28 abstained.
The draft was submitted on behalf of five factions, including the centre-right European People’s Party, which also includes the KDNP. The text is basically about the “seven-article” procedure, which was initiated by the EP back in 2018. He notes that although he has already listened to the government six times in the EU’s Council of Ministers, he has not even come up with recommendations. In the current branch of the procedure, it could do so with a four-fifths majority, in the second, it could suspend certain EU rights after a unanimous vote. As it has already done before, the EP requests that they go to the second branch and that the ministers “improve the situation by issuing concrete recommendations with deadlines for implementation”.
According to the parliamentary resolution, despite the judicial reform adopted last year, serious deficiencies in the rule of law remain in this area. He lists as an example the “rules regarding the immovability of the current president of the Kúria – the highest court of Hungary -“, and lacks substantive safeguards and guarantees for the board’s independence. He believes that they are politically interfering “in the work of the prosecutor’s services and individual prosecutors”, as well as putting pressure on the members of the National Judicial Council. The judicial requirements are particularly important because, because of them, the European Commission froze almost all of the 22 billion euros of EU catch-up aid. He adopted the Hungarian reforms in December last year, so roughly half of the money, which is not blocked by other conditions, could already be withdrawn then. The stakes are further raised by the fact that the judicial reform is also four of the 27 super milestones that should be fulfilled for the regular payments of the 10.4 billion euros from the recovery fund. (So far, only one bypass advance has been transferred.)
Due to the decision, the European Parliament initiated a lawsuit in March. The resolution
“repeatedly calls on the Commission to re-evaluate its decision, especially in the light of the national measures taken since its adoption, as well as the leaked statements of the former Hungarian Minister of Justice,
which indicated the lack of independence of the prosecution service and political interference in criminal proceedings”. Although the EP’s resolution does not mention her name, it does refer to Judith Varga. In the audio recording previously made public by her ex-husband, Péter Magyar, the former Minister of Justice talked about being in a mafia government from which it is impossible to get out, and the “Rogáns” in the documents of the Schadl-Völner case “suggested to the prosecutors what should be extracted, but not all of them followed it”.
In addition, the decision lists other problems in dozens of points
- starting with the possible investigations of the Office of Sovereignty Protection against civilians and the media
- through the excessive influence of the government on the media
- to the lack of “adequate authority, authorization and access to information of the Integrity Authority”. (The head of the organization created on the basis of EU expectations himself recently complained that the authority cannot perform its task for which it was created, it is not equipped with the powers to operate effectively.)
The resolution specifically condemns the sovereignty law, because it believes that, in addition to EU legislation, it fundamentally violates the norms of democracy. He welcomes the fact that the European Commission launched infringement proceedings against him in February, and calls on the government to “immediately repeal the law”.
After its resolution last year, the EP once again emphasizes its concerns about whether the Hungarian government will be able to credibly lead the Council from July. The problem of the consecutive six-month presidency “occurs at an extremely important time”, when the new European Commission is formed. He repeats: “ready to take measures” to “protect the credibility of the Union”. (We wrote more about the specific steps previously mentioned by the representatives, who cannot directly intervene in the order of the presidency, here.)
The text “considers it regrettable that Hungary abused its right of veto in the Council and, undermining the strategic interests of the EU, prevented the provision of vital support to Ukraine.” In addition, he “condemns the general policy of the Hungarian government in relation to Russia”.
The resolution “reiterates its call on the Commission to ensure that the final recipients or beneficiaries of EU funds are not deprived of those funds as required by the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation”. He asks the board to “find a way to distribute EU funds through local and regional governments and civil society organizations, if the government concerned does not cooperate with regard to deficiencies in the enforcement of the rule of law.”
The resolution has no legal consequences, and the EP does not directly participate in any rule of law proceedings concerning Hungarian resources, which are decided by the European Commission and partly by the Council of Ministers. The representatives are invited on June 6-9. will be re-elected between, and then the European Commission will also be re-formed. The EP will have to vote for both the committee president and the entire body. We wrote here about the role that Hungarian rule of law issues can play in the campaign of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is preparing for a new campaign.
The messages were already flying before the vote
Before the meeting, the momentous Anna Donáth – one of the submitters of the proposal – posted on Facebook that she submitted three amendments to the European Parliament decision, which were included in the final text:
- freeze the payment of EU funds again and restart the entire investigation procedure against the Hungarian government;
- the European Commission should turn to the EU court to “suspend the applicability of the Hungarian Sovereignty Protection Act with immediate effect”;
- the board should do more so that the Hungarian government joins the EU prosecution.
The dollar left launched another attack on Hungary, they would take Hungarians’ money – Tamás Menczer responded. According to a statement issued by the communications director of Fidesz through MTI, the left “wants the Hungarian people not to receive the EU funds due to Hungary, to suspend the disbursement of the funds, and for teachers to lose their salary increases.” This goes completely against Hungarian interests, it is an open attack on Hungary, and the EU funds go to Hungary on the basis of agreements, not “donations”. “The pro-war dollar left and their international allies are attacking us because we stand by our pro-peace position, say no to immigration and LGBTQ propaganda. No matter how much pressure they put on us, we will protect the peace and security of Hungary!”
“It’s certainly not in Hungary’s interest that they try to build their own clientele with EU money,” replied Donáth. “It is in the Hungarian interest that schools, workplaces, and civil organizations receive EU money directly,” and that we join the EU prosecutor’s office. “One commissioner cannot educate others about Hungarian interests: the Orbán government, which represents Russian interests in the EU and is constantly embezzling Hungarian and European taxpayers’ money,” wrote the MEP representative.
István Ujhelyi, a former member of the MSZP and currently a politician in the partially self-founded Esély Közössé, voted in advance on how and which button to press in the final vote – despite the fact that due to the modifiers, no one could know with certainty in advance exactly what text he would have to give his opinion on. “Regarding the amendments submitted to the resolution, there will be some that I can support, and there will also be some that I will vote against. In the case of the final document, however, he will press yes, because based on the votes cast, “a significant majority of you expect this from me”, he promised in advance on Facebook.
The Hungarian rule of law situation was most recently discussed at the previous European Parliament session (we wrote more about it here).
Tags: Due recording Judit Varga requests resources partially blocked
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