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The path to the EU budget and the billions in aid from Corona is free. Heads of State and Government agreed on Thursday at their summit in Brussels on a compromise on the new rule of law mechanism negotiated by the Presidency of the German Council. This was announced by the President of the EU Council, Charles Michel, on Twitter at night. Previously, Hungary and Poland had blocked important decisions for weeks. Both countries fear that the mechanism aims to cut EU funds due to controversial political projects.
The compromise now states that the new procedure to sanction violations of the rule of law is complemented by an additional statement. Among other things, it stipulates the options that Hungary and Poland have to defend themselves against the application of the regulation. One of them is the revision of the Rules of Procedure by the Court of Justice of the European Communities. You would probably delay the first use of the procedure for months, if not more than a year.
Furthermore, it is stipulated once again that a determination of a violation of the rule of law alone is not enough to cut financial aid from the EU. Therefore, it should be clear that the infringement has negative effects on the use of EU money. Furthermore, it should be noted once again that heads of state and government must address the issue in disputes.
If there hadn’t been an agreement, the EU would only have had a kind of emergency budget from January. Many programs could not have been started. In addition, a way would have to be found to organize the Corona economic stimulus program of up to 750 billion euros without Poland and Hungary. Countries that are suffering a lot from the Crown crisis and at the same time have a debt problem, for example France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Belgium, depend on aid.
The EU countries agreed to the new mechanism in late October against the will of Hungary and Poland. Later, the governments of Budapest and Warsaw vetoed unanimous budget decisions to force changes. They fear that the new process will be used mainly against them. They have long been accused of improperly expanding their influence over the judiciary. In addition, restrictions on freedom of the press and insufficient protection of minorities are criticized.
The pending decisions for EU finances for the next few years and assistance from the Crown will be taken by the EU Council of Ministers and the EU Parliament in the coming days. However, problems are no longer expected there, since in recent weeks agreement has already been reached on all important issues.
