EU Leaders Still Insist on Tying EU Funds to Rule of Law Criteria. EPP leader Manfred Weber confirmed that even though Viktor Orbán would like a great amount of money from the EU’s coronavirus recovery package, but without complying with the rule of law, the European Parliament will not allow him to use the money, leftist daily Népszava reports, quoting a Spiegel article. #EUCO #ViktorOrban #Hungary This was also stated by Charles Michel, President of the European Council in an interview with Euronews. He said that payments from the EU budget are linked to the rule of law, but the details of this have yet to be worked out.

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After nearly 50 hours of negotiations at the European Union summit held from July 17- 21 with the participation of 27 countries, an agreement on the EU’s coronavirus recovery package and new budget was finally born. The rule of law criteria that the Hungarian government sought to leave out eventually stayed in a diluted form, however, the Hungarian Prime Minister was still glad with the result.

In the end, the final statement was ambiguous on the issue of the rule of law, it only includes the importance of protecting the financial interests of the Union. In the event of a breach, however, “the European Commission will propose measures to the European Council by qualified majority. The European Council will return to the matter as a matter of urgency.”

Referring to this section, the position of the Hungarian government is that the rule of law has been separated from the budget, and the criticisms of Fidesz regarding the state of rule of law in Hungary cannot be grounds for the deduction of funds.

Nonetheless, the European Parliament insists that the Union may refuse payments in the event of problems with the rule of law. The head of the European Council, Charles Michel, says that there will definitely be a rule of law mechanism in the next budget. The Belgian politician spoke about this in an interview with Euronews in Brussels, saying that “there is a link between the EU budget, the money in the recovery fund, and the rule of law. We will now work with the European Parliament and the Member States on how to put this decision into practice. It will not be easy, there are more interpretations at the moment. But I am sure we will find a solution.”

MEPs point out that the hearings organised by the Council under Article 7 of the Treaty are neither regular nor structured. They call on the Council to address concrete recommendations to the countries concerned, including deadlines, to ensure EU law is respected.

“The failure by the Council to make effective use of Article 7 continues to undermine the integrity of common European values, mutual trust and the credibility of the European Union as a whole”, claims the EP.

The text also urges the Commission to use all tools at its disposal to prevent a serious breach of common values, such as expedited infringement procedures and applications for interim measures before the Court of Justice.

EP’s role in Article 7 hearings

MEPs complain that they have not been allowed to participate in the hearings, particularly when it was Parliament that initiated the Article 7 proceedings. They insist that the Parliament should be given the opportunity to formally present its reasoned proposal to the Council.

EU mechanism on democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights

Finally, the resolution underlines the “imminent need” for an EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights, as proposed by the Parliament. This should be an annual independent review which assesses, on an equal footing, the compliance of all member states with the values stipulated in Article 2 of the Treaty.
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In September 2018, Parliament demanded that the Council act to prevent the Hungarian authorities from breaching the EU’s founding values. MEPs were chiefly concerned about judicial independence, freedom of expression, corruption, rights of minorities, and the situation of migrants and refugees.

In the case of Poland, the European Commission requested EU action in December 2017 in view of the perceived threats to the independence of the judiciary. In a resolution adopted in March 2018, the European Parliament agreed with the Commission on the risks to the rule of law in Poland.

According to Article 7 of the Treaty, following these requests, the Council may determine that there is a clear risk of a serious breach of EU values in the concerned countries. This could eventually lead, at a later stage, to sanctions, such as voting rights being suspended in the Council.

EU ministers have held two hearings with the Hungarian government, in September 2019 and December 2019, while the Polish authorities have defended themselves in front of the Council on three occasions, between June and December 2018.

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