Hungary Suing EU Over Rule Of Law Demands
By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News reporting from Budapest
(Worthy News) – Hungary warned Friday that it would launch a case at the European Union’s top court against the linking of EU funds to respect the rule of law.
Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga made the announcement hours after EU leaders agreed on the bloc’s 1.8 trillion euro ($2.2 trillion) budget and coronavirus recovery fund.
Hungary and Poland had threatened to veto the funds if payments are linked to respect for the law. The two EU member states are under investigation for undermining the independence of courts and media and were at risk of losing billions of euros from the EU.
But following pressure from the conservative governments in Budapest and Warsaw, a declaration states the rule-of-law link to funds will be applied objectively. It relates only to safeguarding the proper use of EU money and will not punish nations under separate EU rule-of-law probes.
To delay applying the new regulation on the rule of law, Poland and Hungary can ask the European Court of Justice to check if it is in line with EU treaties, which could take two years.
“No one should have any doubts the Hungarian government will attack this (in EU’s court) as we believe there are the rule of law problems with the text of the regulation itself, Varga told state radio on Friday. “I am sure the EU court will remedy these,” she added.
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