EU Faces Deadline Pressure as Hungary Aid Spat Spills Over

Actually, Hungary’s authoritarian head of government should only get billions in European funding if he can show progress in the fight against corruption. The EU Commission has now certified it. MEPs are pissed – and threaten the President of the Commission. Hungary and the EU are approaching a year-end showdown over the rule of law, with billions of euros and key EU policies, such as financial aid to Ukraine, at stake.

#eudebates the unique initiative aiming to promote debate, dialogue, knowledge, participation and communication among citizens. #orban #orbán #orbánviktor #hungary #ruleoflaw #europe #fidesz

The commission is expected to assess whether Hungary has met the conditions on November 29, after which member state governments will have until December 19 to decide whether to suspend funds.

It is the first time the EU has deployed a so-called “conditionality mechanism”, where the threat of withholding EU funds is used to trick a member state’s government into cracking down on corruption.

The mechanism was adopted two years ago as part of the bloc’s 2021-2022 budget agreement, hoping to have an effective tool that could ease Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s grip on judiciary power.

With the commission not due to deliver its verdict until the end of the month, the EU executive leaves very little time for national governments to study its assessment, with the economy ministers – who are in charge – having their last physical meeting on December 6.

Complicating matters is that the commission also denied approval of Hungary’s post-Covid recovery fund, worth 5.8 billion euros, on rule of law grounds. . The two parties must also agree until the end of the year so that Hungary does not lose 70% of the funds.

But in typical Brussels political poker, Hungary also has the cards in hand.

Budapest has threatened to veto joint funding of the €18 billion in aid to Ukraine and EU approval of the global minimum tax, in what EU officials have qualified as blackmail.

The solution may be a compromise in which all parties can claim victory.

“It’s very hard to see a way out that won’t be a classic EU trick in the end,” an EU diplomat said.

EU sources expect the Commission to pass the hot potato to governments and not take a clear decision on whether it thinks the 17 measures have been sufficiently implemented.

“We are a little worried that the commission will not come up with a clear statement and that it will impose on the council the responsibility for the way forward,” said another EU diplomat, speaking under cover of the ‘anonymity.

For the council to retain the funds, a qualified majority of governments would have to agree, which is unlikely, although some countries, such as the Benelux and the Nordics, want to see assurances that the money from the EU is no longer in danger in Hungary.

“If the commission presents to the council that Hungary has accepted all 17 measures, it is difficult for the council to say that we are going to withhold the money,” said the second diplomat.

Another diplomat noted that governments that also depend on cohesion funds are ready to give Hungary the green light, fearing that they will become the target of the same procedure later.

Last September, the commission highlighted “systemic irregularities, loopholes and weaknesses in public procurement” as a major concern, in particular the high rate of single tender procedures and the low level of competition in the procedures. procurement.

Disgruntled MPs

Meanwhile, leading MEPs from the four main parties in the European Parliament, who negotiated the conditionality tool, argued on Thursday that the Orbán government should not be let go.

Finnish centre-right MEP Petri Sarvamaa said that in view of the 17 measures, “it is impossible to conclude that this will completely erase the risk of affecting the EU budget and the sound financial management of the EU budget. ‘EU’.

“If the commission now releases the funds to Viktor Orbán, [EU Commission president] Ursula von der Leyen will be personally responsible for turning Hungary into a swamp of corruption,” said liberal German MEP Moritz Körner.

German Green MEP Daniel Freund said the level of corruption in Hungary is comparable to no other member state and “is coordinated, organised, protected by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán”.

“There is not a single measure in these 17 measures that makes prosecutions more independent, […] makes judges more independent,” said MEP Daniel Freund, adding that these institutions are politically controlled.