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In this, László Kövér warns of the position also expressed by the Hungarian government, according to which if vague conditions of the rule of law are included in the regulations, which are suitable for political extortion, beyond the regular execution of the budget of the EU, the it would be a covert attempt to modify the EU Treaty, which is not authorized by all Member States and therefore would violate the Treaty.
It recalls that the EU Treaty already provides for a rule of law procedure in Article 7, and that the Treaty must be amended with the consent of all Member States to establish a new procedural mechanism. He also recalled that to implement the framework decided in the summer agreement of the EU Member States (7-year budget, system for increasing the own resources of the recovery fund) The consent of the parliaments of the member states is also required, and this is not possible on Hungary’s part until the criteria system for the rule of law is properly established (in Hungary).
Thus, László Kövér formulated in writing to the Presidents of Parliament the same Hungarian “veto threat” and the same threat of blockade, which the Hungarian government had already sent to the Council as a signal through the German Presidency.
According to this, the EU regulation on increasing equity will not be negotiated and supported by the Hungarian parliament until the dispute over the rule of law is resolved, so the recovery fund cannot start either, it will suffer a postponement .
Relevant material on the depth, recent developments, and real drivers of the rule of law debate in recent days:
It is important to know that a qualified majority (two thirds) in the Council is sufficient for an EU regulation on the rule of lawTherefore, the negotiating framework has already been adopted with the support of 20 Member States. At the end of September, the governments of Hungary and Poland were rejected because they considered the draft too strict (mainly because the seventh of the 7 conditions was too vague, too vague to be understood), while another five member states were rejected because proposed commitment prepared by the Presidency.
In any case, with the approval of the 20 Member States, formal consultations have been initiated with the European Parliament and the European Commission on finalizing the rule of law. In Thursday’s negotiations, the parties have moved closer to an agreement, but there is no final agreement yet, and this agreement, its short-term success, may now be compounded by László Kövér’s warning letter.
Therefore, the rule of law regulation is sufficient for a qualified majority in the Council, but the other two regulations, on the seven-year budget and own resources regulation for the recovery fund unanimously in the Council.
In the case of the latter two, the Hungarian (and Polish) government can prevent their implementation with a sworn veto, and the Hungarian Parliament must also adopt the own resources decree, and the László Kövér letter warns against this.
It is worth noting that the moot point of the Hungarian government and László Kövér’s argument is that it practically accuses 25 other member states of trying to violate the EU Treaty. This is a strong enough accusation, given that an army of lawyers is working around every government, as well as around the German Presidency, the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament, and if they really saw that the rule of law would not fit into it. the EU Treaty. anticipated conditions would certainly not move in that direction. In addition, the development of such a rule of law mechanism received the green signal from the Summer Council agreement, which was signed by all the leaders of the member states, including the Hungarian prime minister, although the details were not explained at the time.
Thus, in fact, only the Hungarian and Polish governments consider that a procedural mechanism would be created parallel to the rule of law of Article 7 (which has not yet worked due to mutual defense), which could be politically blackmailed, the other Member States do not they see this as developments. The fact that these two Member States only see this is obviously also related to the fact that it is precisely these two Member States that have been subject to the Article 7 procedure for years without a substantial result and without a Council decision. Obviously, these two Member States do not want more proceedings against them in the event of a new mechanism, which, moreover, would take place at a time when the decrease in the budget deficit and lower GDP growth are already putting more pressure on us for the new EU from 2021. cash inflow.
Below we publish the full text of the letter sent by László Kövér, which also appeared on MTI:
Letter from László Kövér to the presidents of the (trio) countries that hold the presidency of the European Union during the current year and the next
“Dear Mr. President!
The coronavirus epidemic has put the entire world, including our continent, in a difficult position. We need to ensure health protection and mitigate the economic impact of the epidemic at the same time. It is therefore appreciated that the Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the European Union agreed in July this year on a seven-year budget and the EU Next Generation Recovery Fund to offset the economic consequences of the epidemic. The entry into force of this agreement requires the approval of the national parliaments.
I would like to draw the President’s attention to the fact that Hungary will make this approval impossible if the Council of the European Union adopts a regulation which, by implicitly amending the Treaty, creates political blackmail against individual Member States by invoking the rule of law. . The Lisbon Treaty still contains a rule of law procedure. Any other procedure can only be carried out by amending the Treaty, with the consent of all Member States and with the consent of our parliaments. The rule of law cannot constitute an infringement of the Treaties and Member States cannot be deprived of the right to determine their policy on the basis of indefinite concepts.
In view of the above, I ask you, as one of the Presidents of the Trio of Presidencies of the European Union, to use your personal authority to ensure that the agreement reached at the EU summit in July is not accompanied by a contrary procedure so much to the Treaty as well as to the Treaty. and that it cannot be accepted by the Hungarian Parliament. Budapest, October 29, 2020 Yours sincerely, László Kövér “
Cover image source: MTI / Koszticsák Szilárd
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