The European Commission can now withhold European funds if a member state violates the rule of law. The proposal has passed the legal test of the European Court of Justice.
The joint Polish-Hungarian appeal against the new ‘rule of law mechanism’ has been rejected by the European judges. The approval of sanctions against Poland and Hungary had been looming for some time. The Commission is acting within its authority because it concerns the EU budget and financial interests.
Previously, there was the well-known ‘Article 7’. This could suspend a member state’s voting rights. Over the past years, this proved unworkable due to the requirement of unanimity, with Poland and Hungary repeatedly protecting each other.
According to a senior source at the Commission, it will be easier to build a case against Hungary than against Poland. Corruption with public procurement, clientelism, and nepotism in Hungary lend themselves more readily to this than the more general erosion of the rule of law in Poland. Moreover, Poland has already begun adjusting the controversial law on judicial appointments.
As far as GroenLinks is concerned, the European Commission should freeze EU funds for Hungary and Poland as long as they continue to violate the rule of law. If the Commission does not act, the Greens in the European Parliament want to place the Commission under trusteeship. This step has only ever been taken once before by the European Parliament, after which the Commission decided to resign.
Strik: “The Polish and Hungarian governments undermine our European values, our foreign policy, and the fact that EU law takes precedence over national legislation. Allowing this tacitly is harmful to the rights of Hungarian and Polish citizens and the interests of the European Union as a whole.
“It is justified that EU member states that do not adhere to the rule of law provisions can be sanctioned.” This is the reaction of MEP Peter van Dalen (Christian Union) to the Court of Justice’s ruling. Dysfunctional member states have a significant negative impact on the European Union as a whole, and this must be stopped through sanctions or reductions in European subsidies,” said Van Dalen.