Poland and Hungary had filed an appeal before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to cancel this mechanism still ever applied, which was finally validated by European justice in February.
Le Monde with AFP
The European Commission has decided to launch against Hungary an unprecedented procedure to suspend the payment of European funds in the event of a violation of the principles of the rule of law. The European Commissioner in Budget, Johannes Hahn, “said today with the Hungarian authorities and informed them that we were now going to send the letter of formal notice to activate the mechanism. This triggers a procedure with accurate deadlines,” has announced on Tuesday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, before the European Parliament. His statement was welcomed by applause of MEPs.
She did not specify what was the content of this letter. In a previous letter, sent to Budapest in November, however, the Commission expressed concerns about issues of public procurement, conflicts of interest and corruption. The question of corruption is also the reason for blocking by the Hungarian recovery plan.
A suspension or reduction of payments must be proposed
The mechanism activated against Hungary allows the Commission to deprive European funds a country where violations of the rule of law would be noted which “reaches or may affect” the financial interests of the EU, ” in a sufficiently direct way “. A suspension or reduction of payments must be proposed by the Commission and endorsed by at least 15 Member States.
Poland and Hungary had filed an appeal before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to cancel this mechanism. The twenty-seven had committed that it is not activated until the justice of the Union decided. The CJEU validated the procedure on February 16, thus opening the way for its implementation.
The mechanism applies to funds paid in the framework of the European budget, which are important sums for these two countries, they are among the main net beneficiaries of the European funds – as well as the post-Covid recovery plans . Those of Poland and Hungary have still not been approved.
For months, the European Parliament has been impatient and even initiated an appeal for inaction against the Commission. “The European Parliament is now waiting for the Commission that it quickly applies the conditionality mechanism,” reacted the president of this assembly, Maltese Roberta Metsola, after the decision of the CJEU.
The Chairman of the Commission had promised to act “with determination”, but the conduct on 3 April of legislative elections in Hungary complicated the deal for Brussels who feared being accused of interference. The announcement of the European Commission occurs two days after a fourth electoral victory in a row for the Sovereignist leader Viktor Orban in Hungary.