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The German EU presidency has made a proposal for a draft regulation that would oblige EU payments to respect the rule of law, writes Népszava based on Politico. According to a newspaper article, the German proposal is a watered-down version of the text produced by previous presidencies. The reference to the rule of law has been removed from the title of the draft regulation, which would be replaced by a “general set of conditions for the protection of the EU budget”. Consequently, it would interpret the deficiencies attributable to the Member States more restrictively, that is, it would not sanction general deficiencies of the rule of law, but only the violation of the rule of law. It has also been deleted from the text that the risks of breach of the rule of law could already lead to actions.
István Ujhelyi, on the other hand, the MSZP MEP interprets the text as
The only success of the Hungarian Prime Minister can be attributed to the fact that the term “rule of law” has been removed from the title of the proposal, but the contents of the package have become even stronger.
He adds that although the legislative proposal of the European Parliament was even stronger, it is also acceptable as a possible compromise and direction. Ujhelyi writes that the proposal of the German EU presidency is clear:
If a government of a member state violates the rules and values of the union, it can decide to reduce or even suspend the payment of its resources. Under the proposal’s decision-making mechanism, to stop the process, Orbán would have to have at least eleven member states whose governments together represent at least 35 percent of the total EU population. This means that the Polish-Hungarian illiberal friendship used so far as an extortion tool will not be enough to prevent a decision on the rule of law.
According to the MEP, it is expected that “Fidesz will start to go crazy over the proposal, although it would be enough if it abides by the law and respects European values, such as the inviolability of the rule of law.
The representatives of the Member States will discuss the compromise document for the first time on Wednesday.
Featured Image: AFP
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