Author:

László Arató (EUrologus)

Brexit, the budget for the next seven years, the reconstruction fund and the European Commission report on the rule of law were discussed by the EU ministers for Europe. It would be very important to make significant progress as soon as possible on the first two topics. Not much of a chance for that, but politicians are optimistic.

Justice Minister Judit Varga, representing Hungary, set the tone for the meeting of the European Affairs Ministers of the member states: even before the start of the meeting, she informed her fellow ministers about why they had not agreed to do publishes the agenda of the rule of law. In this case, anyone could have followed the posts online.

Why are Western European “champions” of the rule of law and democracy afraid of the public? Why don’t you dare to publicly state your position on the famous European Commission report on the rule of law? Why was Poland alone in Luxembourg today supporting the Hungarian proposal that, in the name of transparency and true democracy, all European citizens should be able to follow the exchange of views between the EU ministers of the 27 Member States? ?

– asked these questions in Judit Varga’s Facebook post.

However, at another point on the agenda, the Member States have spoken in favor of the public, in the context of the next seven-year budget. This debate has mainly focused on which Member States are in favor of EU funds being subject to strict conditions of the rule of law. From these, the following image emerged, taking into account only the comments:

Along with him: Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain.

Votes against: Hungary, Poland.

Those who have advocated for the rule of law have said that they do not want to set this aside because it is in the fundamental interest of the European Union. EU Minister Konrad Krzysztof Szymański, representing the Polish government, said Poland was unwilling to adopt an instrument that could exert political pressure and therefore did not support the draft. According to Judit Varga, this is an ideological question contrary to the agreement of the Heads of State and Government in July, and Hungary is not willing to reopen that debate and, if necessary, will vote no on the entire budget package.

Michael Roth, on behalf of the incoming German presidency, said he saw the deal as available but needed compromises. This applies to discussions between Member States and to consultation with the European Parliament. The European Parliament is also one of those that insists on an effective and viable rule of law mechanism. At the same time, most of the speakers spoke of the need to ensure that the EU has a budget from 1 January and that the € 750 billion reconstruction fund reaches those who need it.

Ministers are quite skeptical about Brexit, although EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic says the situation is difficult but not hopeless. However, the deadline is very tight: to avoid an unstable British exit, future relations between the EU and Britain should be agreed in a few weeks, but rather in a few days. Although the British politically left the European Union on January 31, there will be a transition period until the end of the year. There are still many unresolved issues in this area, but the negotiations have stalled. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now talking about an October 15 deal, and that was the EU’s final date, but it is still unclear how a breakthrough can be achieved in two days.



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