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After weeks of squabbling with Hungary and Poland, a compromise has been reached: According to Council President Michel, member states agreed to a new EU budget and billions in Corona aid at the EU summit.
The path to the EU budget and the billions in aid from Corona is free. At their summit in Brussels, heads of state and government agreed to a compromise on the new rule of law mechanism negotiated by the German Presidency of the Council. This was announced by the President of the EU Council, Charles Michel, on Twitter.
This means that member states could now start to implement the financial package and rebuild their economies in the Crown crisis, Michel wrote. Europe’s “trendsetting economic stimulus package” will “drive our green and digital transition forward.”
Poland and Hungary fear cuts in EU funds
Previously, Hungary and Poland had blocked important decisions for weeks. Both countries fear that the rule of law mechanism aims to cut EU funding due to controversial political projects. Hungary and Poland have long been accused of unduly increasing their influence over the judiciary. In addition, restrictions on freedom of the press and insufficient protection of minorities are criticized.
The compromise now states that the new procedure to sanction violations of the rule of law is complemented by an additional statement. Among other things, it stipulates the options that Hungary and Poland have to defend themselves against the application of the regulation. One of them is the revision of the Rules of Procedure by the Court of Justice of the European Communities. You would probably delay the first use of the procedure for months, if not more than a year.
Many EU countries depend on Corona’s help
The compromise also stipulates that a determination of a violation of the rule of law is not sufficient to reduce financial assistance from the EU. Therefore, it must be clearly demonstrated that the infringement has a negative impact on the use of EU money. In addition, heads of state and government should have to address the issue in disputes.
If there had been no settlement in the dispute, the EU would only have had a kind of emergency budget starting in January. Many programs could not have been started. In addition, then it would have been necessary to organize the Corona economic stimulus program of up to 750 billion euros without Poland and Hungary. Countries that are suffering a lot from the Crown crisis and at the same time have a debt problem, for example France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Belgium, depend on aid.
