European Commission could block funds from Hungary over Sovereignty Protection Act as well

The European Commission (EC) hasn’t excluded the possibility of applying the conditions for the allocation of cohesion funding to Hungary on account of the Sovereignty Protection Act as well, Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice told Népszava.

Under the conditionality system, member states can only receive developmental assistance if they respect commonly agreed rules and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The European Commission launched an infringement procedure against Hungary in February over the Sovereignty Protection Act, which the Commission says violates several provisions of primary and secondary EU law, including:

• EU democratic values;
• the principle of democracy and EU citizens' right to vote;
• a number of fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (such as the right to respect privacy and family life, the right to the protection of personal data, freedom of expression and information, freedom of association, the right to an effective legal remedy and to a fair trial, the prohibition of self-incrimination and the obligation of the attorney-client privilege);
• EU legal requirements on the protection of personal data;
• and a number of rules applicable to the internal market.

A similar decision was taken more than a year ago because of the so-called Child Protection Law and several other pieces of legislation that violate fundamental EU rights, with the European Commission currently blocking around €2.4 billion of cohesion funds due to Hungary in total.

The Sovereignty Protection Act, adopted in December, is part of a package that, among other things, deals with the newly created Sovereignty Protection Office. This authority can essentially scrutinize anyone suspected of threatening Hungary's sovereignty. According to NGOs, it is in essence an arbitrary law aiming to silence any critical voices. At Telex, we have written about the serious stakes of the package, which Fidesz has said is intended to "make things hard" for "foreign-funded journalists, pseudo-NGOs and dollar-funded politicians".

The European Commission released its annual report on the overall situation of the rule of law in member states on Wednesday. In the section on Hungary, they point out that the new law on the protection of national sovereignty further undermines civic space.