MEPs clear path for Parliament to sue Commission over releasing funds to Hungary
Hungary
Tonight, Members of the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) have voted in favour of the Parliament taking the Commission to the European Court of Justice over the release of 10.2 billion EUR in funds to Hungary; the Parliament will file the case in the coming days. In December, ahead of the European Council Summit, the Commission released funds that were previously frozen due to concerns around judicial independence. In February, MEPs voted by an overwhelming majority to take the Commission to court over this decision, following an assessment by the Parliament's Legal Services.
Sergey Lagodinsky MEP, shadow rapporteur in the JURI Committee, comments:
“EU decisions cannot be bought and sold with cash. The Commission’s decision from December 2023 that allowed payments of over ten billion euros to Hungary was an act of extortion on behalf of Orbán, not an accurate assessment of reforms in Hungary.
"To prevent such a slippery slope in the future, we, the Parliament, have to intervene once again. Initiating legal proceedings against the Commission is an extreme step but a necessary one. We cannot allow the Commission and Council to continue giving Viktor Orbán leverage to blackmail the EU, block the necessary decisions and continue his attacks on the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights in the country.”
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Last year, the European Parliament became the first EU institution to recognise Hungary as a hybrid regime of electoral autocracy instead of a democracy. In 2018 the Parliament initiated the Article 7 procedure against Hungary, following inaction on the situation by the Commission. The European Parliament, based on a recommendation from the Committee on Legal Affairs drafted by Sergey Lagodinsky as the then standing rapporteur for disputes to the JURI committee, has already brought a court action against the Commission in 2021 for its failure to activate the so-called conditionality mechanism against Hungary.
