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The package comprises the EU’s multiannual financial framework of 1.1 trillion euros ($ 1.3 trillion), which is paid for by all member states and distributed across the bloc over a period of seven years, and a fund Covid recovery special of 750,000 million euros ($ 858 billion), for which the EU will collect money centrally in the financial markets and deliver it as loans and donations to member states.
Two member states, Poland and Hungary, had vetoed the deal at previous member state meetings protesting EU demands that funds from member states that are seen to violate the rule of law be withheld. Both countries are currently being investigated for exactly this, with charges ranging from repressing political opposition to undermining the independence of judges.
However, at a meeting in Brussels, a compromise was reached that satisfied the two defaulting states. If enough member states believe that Poland or Hungary, for example, are not complying with the rules and standards agreed by the EU, they can trigger a vote that can be assured by qualified majority. However, the latest agreement gives the country in question the option to challenge that decision in the Court of Justice of the European Communities.
Vera Jourova, vice-president of the European Commission, said she was “satisfied that the legal text of the Regulation on the conditionality of the rule of law remains intact and that there is” qualified majority voting in the Council’s decision. ”
He also said that he believes that “some Member States may want to seek full legal certainty on this important matter before the Court of Justice of the European Communities. It is their right. I hope that the procedure is quick. In my opinion, we are talking about months in place of years. “
However, that might not satisfy critics in Hungary or Poland. Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, was quick to claim victory shortly after the deal was reached. “We have won. In a difficult period of pandemic, economic crisis, there is no time to continue the political and ideological debates that prevent us from acting,” Orban said.
“There is concern that the filler added to the rule of law conditionality mechanism will delay its effective use,” Jakub Jaraczewski, legal officer at Democracy Reporting International, told CNN. “If member states can challenge the proposed regulation before the European Court of Justice, it could be a long time before the cross-compliance mechanism can be effectively implemented.”
The agreement will be a great relief to European citizens, who have suffered greatly during the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, the top brass in Brussels were in a celebratory mood.
However, in the coming days, critics of the European Union are likely to accuse the bloc of giving in to the rule of law, a fundamental cornerstone for the bloc’s integrity.
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