European Parliament
Money for Hungary: Committee wants to sue the EU Commission
The EU Commission had released around ten billion euros in frozen EU funds for Hungary. photo
© Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa
Despite strong criticism, the European Commission released funding for Hungary in December – much to the annoyance of the EU Parliament, which threatened legal consequences. Is the lawsuit coming now?
After the controversial release of billions in funding for In Hungary, the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament has paved the way for a lawsuit against the EU Commission. The members voted for the lawsuit with a large majority, as the German Press Agency learned. Accordingly, out of 16 votes for a lawsuit, there was only one against. There were no abstentions.
According to parliamentary circles, following the committee’s clear decision, it is now certain that Parliament Speaker Roberta Metsola will instruct the parliament’s legal service to file the lawsuit. According to current plans, she will inform the Conference of Presidents about the recommendation of the Legal Affairs Committee on Thursday. In addition to Metsola, the chairmen of the parliamentary groups sit there. The conference is responsible for relations with the other EU institutions.
The background to the lawsuit plans is the EU Commission’s decision to release around ten billion euros in frozen EU funding for the country, despite ongoing criticism of violations of constitutional principles in Hungary. The Brussels authority justified the move at the end of last year before a summit of EU heads of state and government by saying that Budapest had met the necessary requirements. The EU had blocked the funds due to concerns that too little was being done to combat corruption and protect the rule of law in Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who ruled with authoritarian methods.
Criticism of EU Commission President von der Leyen
At the time, MEPs criticized the release of the money across party lines and accused EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of allowing herself to be blackmailed by Hungary. Orban had previously announced that he would block the start of EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and a billion-dollar EU aid package for the country attacked by Russia. The start of accession negotiations was finally agreed upon at the summit in December. The aid package was decided at a special summit at the beginning of February.
The Green MP Daniel Freund accused the commission of “horse trading”. “EU money against a veto – it shouldn’t exist in the EU. That’s why we’re suing the ECJ,” he told dpa. EU money should only be available if the rule of law works.
The European law professor and SPD MEP René Repasi called the lawsuit before the Court of Justice an important step “to hold the Commission accountable when dealing with autocracies within Europe.” The rule of law should not be for sale in the EU, he told the dpa shortly after the vote.
Case could end up before the ECJ
The EU Commission has been accusing Hungary of disregarding EU standards and fundamental values for years. The authority initiated a number of infringement proceedings and sued Hungary several times before the European Court of Justice (ECJ), for example because of its rigid refugee policy. The ECJ overturned essential parts of the Hungarian asylum system in various rulings.
In January, Parliament announced that the Legal Affairs Committee and the Legal Service would examine a possible lawsuit over the controversial release. If there is evidence of violations of EU law, the case should be brought before the European Court of Justice.
The parliamentary committee’s decision was preceded by a legal opinion on the chances of a possible lawsuit. This initially did not produce a clear result. The report is available to the German Press Agency.