In June, the European Court of Justice imposed a fine of 200 million euros on Hungary for violating EU asylum law – but the country has not yet paid. The amount is now to be deducted from EU funds.
Because Hungary has not paid a 200 million euro fine, the European Commission wants to deduct the money from future EU payments to Budapest. A 15-day deadline for the country expired today, said a Commission spokesman. 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.”
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) imposed the penalty in June because of Hungary’s violations of EU asylum law. The court found an exceptionally serious violation of EU law by the government in Budapest. It had also declared essential parts of the Hungarian asylum system to be illegal in previous rulings.
The European Commission has also been accusing Hungary for years of disregarding EU standards and fundamental values and has therefore already frozen billions in subsidies 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’s 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.
Hungary: “Unacceptable and undignified”
Green MEP Daniel Freund welcomed the Commission’s decision. “The Commission must remain firm,” he said. EU money should only flow to Hungary in full again if EU law is enforced.
Gulyas, in turn, 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.