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The EU is not ruling out hitting Hungary with more rule-of-law sanctions, which could results in billions more in frozen funds, warns European Commissioner of Justice Didier Reynders
“The European Commission (EC) does not rule out that it will also apply the conditions attached to the awarding of catch-up (cohesion) subsidies in connection with the Sovereignty Protection Act,” said Reynders in response to questions from Hungarian news outlet Népszava’s question during the background discussion on this year’s rule of law report.
The rule-of-law report targets Hungary with a range of accusations, including claims that it is backsliding on democracy and press freedom. That is despite Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán routinely polling as one of the most popular leaders in Europe, with his Fidesz party polling near 50 percent of the vote, and Hungary featuring one of the most pluralistic journalism markets in Europe — one in fact where the opposition media is actually growing.
Now, the EU may be looking to withdraw more money from Hungary’s coffers, writes 24.hu. According to Népszava, Reynders recalled that a similar decision was made more than a year ago because of the so-called child protection law and several other laws “in violation of the basic values of the EU” in Hungary.
Based on these sanctions, the European Commission is currently blocking approximately €2.4 billion from the cohesion funds due to Hungary.
The essence of the system of conditions introduced in the current budget cycle, the newspaper wrote, is that member states can only benefit from EU development grants if they respect the jointly agreed rules and the provisions of the Community’s Charter of Fundamental Rights during their use. However, in the infringement procedure against the Sovereignty Protection Act launched in February this year, the European Court of Justice found that it violates the EU’s democratic values.
According to them, the law goes against several basic rights contained in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, including the right to respect for private and family life and the protection of personal data, as well as the freedom of expression and information, and the freedom of association.
(Article by John Cody republished from rmx.news)
