European Commission sends Hungary payment notice for €200 million

It was announced in mid-June that the Court of Justice of the European Union fined Hungary nearly HUF 80 billion (€200 million) for breaching EU asylum rules. This week, European Commission spokesman Christian Wiegand told Népszava that the European Commission sent a letter and a payment notice to the Hungarian government on 16 July. In the letter, the body is asking for information on how Hungary intends to comply with the European Court judgments issued on 13 June this year and 17 December 2020, and is setting a 45-day deadline for payment of the fine. The country's total current debt amounts to more than €240 million, with an increase of €1 million a day. The latter is expected to be paid until Hungary brings its migration and asylum rules into line with EU requirements.

However, according to the Commission's letter from last week, Hungary is not yet required to pay the one million per day, only the lump sum.

If Hungary fails to meet the 45-day deadline, the EC will send another letter, but there will only be 15 days left to make the payment after that. If the money were to still not arrive in Brussels after that, the EU body will start gradually collecting the money with interest from Hungary's Community Assistance funds. As for the €1 million a day fine, at this time, the European Commission is only inquiring about how Hungary intends to bring its legislation into line with EU rules, and further action will depend on the response to that question.

The European Commission launched infringement proceedings against Hungary over its asylum rules, including the transit zones. After extensive correspondence, the matter ended up before the EU Court of Justice. The Hungarian government lost the case in December 2020 and, although according to the European Commision it has taken some steps towards change, such as closing the transit zones, it has not fully aligned Hungarian legislation with the ruling. The delay led the EU body to take the next step in February 2022 when it requested that the ECJ impose a fine. The court decided to increase the amount by €900,000 a day for the asylum system and €100,000 for the deportation scheme, which adds up to €1 million.

Commenting on the case, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán previously said that Hungary was being punished for "not letting in illegal migrants", to which the ECJ responded that the Court's ruling did not oblige Hungary to take in illegal immigrants.