EU Commission
Hungary to pay millions in fines deducted from EU funds
In June, Hungary was fined 200 million euros by the European Court of Justice for violating EU asylum law. (Archive image) Photo
© Meng Dingbo/Xinhua/dpa
Hungary has been at loggerheads with Brussels for a long time. A dispute over the country’s asylum policy could now prove very costly for Budapest.
The 15-day deadline for Hungary to pay the 200 million expired on Tuesday, a Commission spokesman said. A so-called compensation procedure will therefore be initiated. “We will now deduct the 200 million euros from upcoming payments from the EU budget to Hungary.”
In the summer, the European Court of Justice found an exceptionally serious violation of EU law by the government of conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The European Court of Justice had also declared essential parts of the Hungarian asylum system to be illegal in previous rulings. The European Commission has also been accusing Hungary of violating EU standards and fundamental values for years and has therefore already frozen billions in funding for the country.
Daily penalty
In addition, according to a ruling by the European Court of Justice, Hungary must pay a daily penalty of one million euros for each day of delay. The penalty was imposed on Budapest more than 90 days ago. A spokesman for the EU Commission said that the Commission had asked Hungary to pay the penalty. The Hungarian authorities now have 45 days to do so.
After the ECJ ruling, Budapest threatened to bring refugees and migrants to Brussels. “If Brussels wants the migrants, then it should get them,” said Hungarian Chancellor’s Office Minister Gergely Gulyas, a close associate of Orban.
Green MEP Daniel Freund immediately welcomed the Commission’s decision. “The Commission must remain firm,” he said. EU money should only flow to Hungary in full if EU law is enforced.
Hungary hoped for negotiations
Gulyas described the situation created by this ruling as “unacceptable, intolerable and undignified”. Hungary hopes to be able to resolve the situation through negotiations with the EU Commission. His country is also considering taking legal action to force the EU to share in the costs incurred by Hungary in protecting its borders against irregular migrants.
In the summer of 2015, Hungary erected barbed wire fences on its borders with Serbia and Croatia in the midst of the refugee crisis. As a result, only a few irregular migrants entered the country via the Balkan route.