Poland and Hungary are taking the EU to court: there is a real threat of losing millions in Brussels

At the end of last year, the European Council and the European Parliament reached an important compromise: it allows a reduction in funding for Member States that violate or endanger the bloc’s financial interests by violating the rule of law.

Under the new mechanism, which came into force in January, funding can be reduced if a qualified majority of the Member States agrees with the relevant recommendation from the European Commission. This is funding tied to the long-term budget of the European Union or a pandemic response fund.

Only Hungary and Poland, who have been opposed to this mechanism for a long time, still hope that no one will use it in practice. On March 11, both parties formally appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union, questioning the legitimacy of the mechanism.

“When action was taken against Hungary at the height of the pandemic, it was simply too far,” Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga wrote on Facebook.

“We have managed to repel this attack and defend Hungary’s interests in the European Union budget. Such illegal actions cannot go unanswered.” We cannot enforce European Union legislation that questions its legality, so, as we promised the Last year, together with Poland, we are expressing our doubts about this mechanism to the Court of Justice of the European Union, “said Varga.

Poland and Hungary claim that the new measure is aimed directly at them, as the institutions of the European Union accuse both countries of not respecting democratic norms and the rule of law.

Budapest and Warsaw deny the charges against them. Proponents of the new instrument, such as the European Commission and most MEPs, say that member states that receive EU funds must respect the values ​​promoted by the bloc. According to them, if Hungary and Poland respected these values, there would be no reason to fear a new financing scheme.

A new funding mechanism was debated in the European Parliament on 11 March, and MEPs called on the European Commission to take immediate action to end funding from individual Member States.

In December, member states agreed that if some members disagreed with the legality of the mechanism, the European Commission would issue guidelines on the application of the scheme following a ruling by the European Union Court of Justice.

In the European Parliament, Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn has assured that the Commission is determined to defend the rule of law at all costs, but will wait for a court ruling before proposing concrete measures.

“The designation will be active and applicable from 1 January 2021 and, from that date, all irregularities related to the good management of the Union budget and the financial interests of the Union will be recorded and will not be passed ignore any case. In case of doubts, a process of discussion with the responsible Member State will begin immediately “, assured the commissioner.

Mr. Hahn also points out that “to realize our ambition to uphold the rule of law mechanism, our plan needs everyone’s approval; if the Court of Justice of the European Communities considers the legality of the order, the guidelines will undoubtedly in the sentence counts.

MEPs are in favor of implementing the new funding requirements as soon as possible.

“We hope that the European Commission, as guardian of the membership treaties, will ensure that the new regime is applied from the agreed date,” said Petri Sarvamaa, a Finnish MEP.

“The European Parliament will do everything possible to defend the legitimacy of the regulation and will demand appropriate action from the Court of Justice of the European Union,” he said, adding that “it is unlikely that several Member States will support this process.”

Orban calls for the creation of a new group of right-wing European parties

Right-wing parties in Europe are expected to form a new group, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday after his Fidesz party withdrew from the European People’s Party (EPP).

“Italy, Poland and Hungary are now trying to reorganize the European right,” he told the Hungarian state broadcaster. The prime minister said he planned to meet with Matteo Salvin, chairman of the far-right Italian Lyga party, and Mateusz Morawieckis, Polish prime minister of the Law and Justice Party (PiS).

Orban’s proposed group of right-wing European parties would become “home to all European citizens who do not want immigrants, multiculturalism who do not depend on the LGBT obsession, who defend Christian traditions, respect national sovereignty,” he wrote earlier. of this month.

The EPP confirmed on Thursday that the Fidesz party had sent a letter terminating membership of the EU’s center-right party group.

However, Fidesz membership has already been frozen since 2019. 12 Fidesz EU lawmakers left the EPP delegation in March, as well as earlier this month.

Members of Fidesz and the leaders of the PPE have been involved in the dispute for many years. The situation has been aggravated by insults against the MEP and former president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker.