[ad_1]
According to Mandiner, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is also willing to veto the EU budget and recovery fund if the payment of funds to individual member states is subject to the rule of law. Orbán also wrote a letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel about this.
The German Presidency of the Council of the European Union and negotiators in the European Parliament (EP) have reached an agreement on the conditionality of EU funds. According to the draft, if the European Commission detects a violation of the rule of law or a risk of it in a Member State, it can initiate the initiation of a sanction mechanism. The Council would decide by qualified majority on sanctions and therefore on possible suspension of EU funds (Hungary and Poland therefore could not veto), writes Mandiner.
The agreement, which includes criteria for the rule of law, is expected to be adopted jointly by the EP and the Council of Ministers in a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. A qualified majority in the Council is sufficient for this, so Poland and Hungary cannot veto the regulation containing the rule of law mechanism itself.
However, unanimity is already required in the European Council to approve the Multiannual Financial Framework (the EU’s seven-year budget) and the € 750 billion epidemiological package, Next Generation. In the case of the latter, there is already the possibility of vetoing the Member States.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has already indicated on Friday that he will veto the Council if no agreement is reached on the conditions for EU payments in line with Polish expectations.
According to Mandiner, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wrote to the leaders of the current and next year’s EU presidencies, namely Germany, Slovenia and Portugal, as well as Charles Michel, President of the European Council and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
In his letter, the Prime Minister foresaw that, although Hungary is committed to cooperation, in light of events, it will not be able to achieve the necessary unanimity for the package adopted in July. That is to say
It will also veto the Multiannual Financial Framework and the EU epidemiological package, the “Next Generation EU” program, if a regulation is adopted to link EU payments to the rule of law.
The gist of the Prime Minister’s argument is that it jeopardizes trust between member states, as well as Hungary’s interests in including the rule of law in the next seven-year budget and epidemiological rescue package. He confirmed: common values, such as the rule of law, are fundamental for Hungary, they are the basis of democracy for us, but their fulfillment and application must be judged by the Hungarian people. That they are as capable of this as any other European people.
As we know, in his letter, Orbán also mentioned that the Hungarian legal system had previously been fully scrutinized by EU officials in terms of European standards, and that all disputes had been settled. However, the EP initiated a procedure against Hungary under the seven-week article, under which the government produced hundreds of pages of explanatory documents over the last two years. In essence, to no avail, as there was no serious interest in our responses in the General Affairs Council, he noted.
In his letter, the Prime Minister also objected to the fact that the recent European Commission report on the rule of law was not based on facts, but on politically motivated accusations against Hungary, already known to the Hungarian opposition and organizations funded by György Soros.
He sees all of this as a tool to intervene in the democratic electoral processes of some countries.
There is no agreement on anything until we agree on everything
– According to Viktor Orbán, this was the established practice of the union until now, which now faces the separation of the criteria of the rule of law system from the July agreement. The essence of the July compromise was precisely that a decision should be taken at the same time on the rule of law and on the multiannual financial framework and the epidemiological package of the EU. This was initiated by the current rotating presidency of the EP and the Council of the European Union with the current proposal.
The Prime Minister also complains that the envisaged sanctions mechanism is based on legally vague definitions as “violation of the rule of law”. According to Orbán, concepts so difficult to define create opportunities for political abuse and violate the requirement of legal certainty. If this continues to be the case, the Hungarian government has no choice but to reject the other elements of the July package.
Orbán also makes suggestions in the letter for a possible new penalty mechanism.According to him, the European Commission, once it has all the necessary means to act independently, should not decide on the various sanctions against Member States, based on the opinion of external agents, such as non-governmental organizations. Brussels is borrowing its credibility from organizations that have no democratic mandate, the Prime Minister refers to Soros’ organizations that provide brainpower to the Commission’s report.
It also urges that the system of payment conditions be limited to cases that really and directly affect the financial interests of the EU. But it also suggests that
create a possibility for Member States to request redress.This would mean that sanctioning decisions taken by the Council could be challenged by the Member State in question before the Court of Justice of the European Communities. The appeal would have suspensive effect, which means that the sanctions would be suspended until the Court of Justice rules.
[ad_2]
