EP would sue over blocked EU funds made partially available to Hungary – Népszava

The European Parliament will be voting on Thursday about its resolution on the rule of law in Hungary. The document has no legal consequences, and the parliament has no direct role pertaining to the blocked Hungarian subsidies, but Hungarian government politicians have nonetheless repeatedly complained about pressure from the EP.

They say the judicial reforms were not sufficient and intend to sue

A five-party resolution, obtained by Népszava and Szabad Európa calls on the EP's legal affairs committee to investigate whether the European Commission's release of the €10.2 billion in catch-up funds allocated to Hungary was legal. It is asking for a legal analysis because

they are contemplating legal action at the EU Court of Justice against the European Commission over the decision.

The proposal has been signed by Christian Democrat, Socialist, Liberal, Green and far-left MEPs. If the five groups vote together, the text could in principle be adopted with a comfortable majority.

The European Commission decided last December to make part of the (previously blocked) catch-up funding available to Hungary. The EU body concluded that the Hungarian government had delivered the expected judicial reforms. According to the proposal from the European Parliament, however, even after the recent reforms, Hungary's judiciary is still not independent,

"because the adopted measures do not provide sufficient safeguards against political interference and are either circumventable or cannot be adequately applied".

The text claims that Hungary still lacks adequate control mechanisms and public procurement procedures, which would protect the EU budget. According to Szabad Európa, the text argues that the decision also contradicts a Commission assessment from last year, which states that not all rule of law conditions are met (this assessment was about the rule of law procedure, which is not conditional on judicial reforms).

The draft also voices concerns about the further erosion of democracy in Hungary, the deterioration of the rule of law and of fundamental rights, as well as the recently adopted "sovereignty protection" law, according to Népszava.

Member states asked to move ahead with the Article 7 procedure

The draft calls on the European Council and member states to take the Article 7 procedure to the next phase and determine whether Hungary has seriously and persistently violated EU values.

The procedure was initiated by the European Parliament in 2018 and has been stuck in its first phase ever since, with member states so far failing to decide whether to drop it or move it forward, despite holding hearings from time to time.

Hungary is still in phase one of the procedure, where a four-fifths majority of EU ministers could declare that there is a clear risk that Hungary is in serious breach of core EU values. Before they can do that, however, recommendations need to be made, but they haven't even got that far.

There is, however, a second phase of the Article 7 procedure. According to Szabad Európa, this is what the European Parliament is now looking to initiate. It cannot propose so directly, but a third of the member states or the European Commission can do so "with the agreement of the EP".

Article 7 of the EU Treaty does not specify that the previous stage must be completed before a second stage can be launched, but the latter can lead to a penalty once the infringement of the EU’s core values was unanimously established (except by the country concerned). The Treaties mention the withdrawal of voting rights in the Council of Ministers as an example of a penalty, but this decision is left to the member states.

Denouncing routine vetoes

According to the proposal, the European Parliament "strongly condemns the actions of the Hungarian Prime Minister who, in total disregard and violation of the EU's strategic interests, decided to block both the decision on the multiannual budget review and the aid package for Ukraine". They continue by saying that the EU must not give in to blackmail under any circumstances and that the decision-making process must be reformed to prevent the abuse of vetoes.

Concerns over the upcoming Hungarian presidency

The proposal questions whether the Orbán government will be able to credibly fulfill the EU Council presidency from July 2024 given its failure to respect EU law, EU values and the principle of sincere cooperation.

It also urges member states to replace the soon-to-be outgoing President of the European Council quickly so that he would not temporarily be succeeded by Viktor Orbán.

A subtle indication that a motion of no-confidence may be initiated

According to Szabad Európa, the proposed resolution also recalls that

that if the Commission releases financial resources without meeting the criteria, the EP can use all legal and political means at its disposal. According to the paper's sources, this implicitly suggests that the EP might even initiate a motion of no-confidence.

Politico had previously reported that the Liberals would have been prepared to table an amendment on a motion of no-confidence if the text had not referred to the second stage of the Article 7 procedure.

The European Commission does not have much time left, as it will be reshuffled after the EP elections in June. The current Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen has not yet announced whether she intends to stand for the presidency again, but several member states have "politely" enquired about it, according to the paper. The new president, and then the whole body, will have to be voted on by the future EP. In the case of Ursula von der Leyen, it came down to a few votes last time, but this year the Eurosceptics and the far-right are expected to gain strength.