No progress on high-level corruption cases in Hungary, European Commission’s rule of law report states

The European Commission published its annual report on the situation of the rule of law in the EU and its member states on Wednesday. While the documents only make recommendations and do not bind any of the member states to any action, the Hungarian government would do well to pay attention to it because there is both an "Article 7" and a "conditionality" rule of law procedure under way against Hungary, the latter of which is partially blocking EU funds.

The summary of the chapter on Hungary takes note of the implementation of the judicial reform package adopted last year. The European Commission expected these measures in exchange for most of the catch-up funding.

Among other things, the circumstances under which Hungarian courts can refer cases to the EU Court of Justice have been clarified and the transparency of the Curia's case allocation system improved, but the European Commission "remains concerned" about lower-instance courts. The document also notes that even after the reform, the government has not been able to draw down the full funding of several EU programmes due to the conditionality procedure and still cannot submit payment requests to the Recovery Fund, as it "has not adopted new measures to resolve the remaining rule of law and corruption concerns''.

“Political influence on the prosecution service remains, with the risk of undue interference with individual cases.”

The document also states that the judges' freedom of expression continues to be hampered by smear campaigns, and their pay has continued to deteriorate along with that of other court employees.

The courts operate efficiently and are well digitized, and a new anti-corruption strategy has been adopted, but the Integrity Authority (the establishment of which was a requirement under the conditionality mechanism) has reported encountering obstacles in its work.

“Some high-level corruption cases have reached the indictment stage, but the lack of a robust track record of investigations of corruption allegations concerning high-level officials and their immediate circle remains a serious concern.”

The report also states that “court decisions reviewing prosecutorial decisions not to investigate or prosecute corruption are still not binding and have so far not brought significant results, although the possibility of judicial review incentivises prosecutors to assess allegations more thoroughly. ”

The threats to media pluralism highlighted in previous rule of law reports remain unaddressed. No measures have been adopted or are planned to regulate the channelling of state advertising to media outlets, to guarantee the functional independence of the media authority and to ensure the editorial and financial independence of public service media.

Journalists and independent media outlets continue to face numerous challenges including seemingly coordinated smear and de-legitimisation campaigns, and selective access to government premises and events. Further legislative changes have introduced some restrictions to freedom of information.

Increasing state interventions and arbitrary decisions of the authorities remain a problem for the operation of businesses in the single market. The ‘state of danger’ has been further extended until November 2024. The quality of law-making and the frequent changes in legislation remain a significant cause for concern. The Constitutional Court still reviews the merits of final rulings of ordinary courts in politically sensitive cases, while obstacles affecting civil society organisations are still present, and the new Sovereignty Protection Act further undermines civic space (the body launched an infringement procedure against Hungary over this in February). Concerns related to the State’s role in financing civil society also continue.

Among other things, the European Commission recommends that the Hungarian authorities should

• improve the transparency of case allocation systems in lower-instance courts
• increase the remuneration of judges, prosecutors, and judicial and prosecutorial staff
• adopt comprehensive reforms on lobbying and revolving doors, and further improve the system of asset declarations, providing for effective oversight and enforcement.
• establish a robust track record of investigations, prosecutions and final judgments for high-level corruption cases.
• adopt legislation to ensure fair and transparent distribution of advertising expenditure by the state and state-owned companies
• strengthen the independence of the public service media
• remove obstacles affecting civil society organisations