The European Commission has announced that it is unfreezing about €10bn earmarked for Hungary– about a third of the total amount suspended over a host of rule of law-related concerns.
This came despite criticism from Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and experts.
The commission argued that Hungary has fulfilled a set of judiciary reforms and thus deserves access to access part of the funding on merit.
In a statement, the commission said, “After a thorough assessment, and several exchanges with the Hungarian government, the Commission considers that Hungary has taken the measures it committed to take in order for the Commission to consider that the horizontal enabling condition on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is fulfilled in what concerns judicial independence.”
“This means part of the Cohesion Policy funding would no longer be blocked, and therefore Hungary may start claiming reimbursements of up to around €10.2bn,” it added.
However, Hungarian civil society groups who monitor judicial independence say that the government has not fully met the criteria.
A group of four political groups in the European parliament, including the centre-right European People’s party and the Socialists and Democrats, also expressed concern in a letter to the commission’s President, Ursula von der Leyen.
Critics of the commission’s move claim that there is a perception that unlocking the funds was rushed in order to help convince the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, to lift his block on key Ukraine-related decisions that leaders had planned to take at a summit that begins tomorrow.
German Green MEP, Daniel Freund said in a statement, “By releasing €10bn to Orbán, von der Leyen is making the biggest mistake of her time in office.”
“The necessary reforms have not been implemented. However, the timing of the release only allows the conclusion that this was not about judicial reforms. Instead, the €10bn was intended to remove Orbán’s veto. There was no obligation to respond to Hungary’s request before the summit.
“Ursula von der Leyen is now paying the largest bribe in the history of the EU – to the autocrat and Putin friend Viktor Orbán. The signal is fatal: the EU Commission is showing today that Viktor Orbán’s blackmail tactics are paying off.”
Daniel Freund
In its statement explaining the decision, the Commission said it “will closely and continuously monitor” the measures Hungary put in place.
It also warned, “If, at any point in time, the Commission considers that this horizontal enabling condition is no longer fulfilled, it may again decide to block funding.”
“Catastrophical Decision”
Finnish MEP Petri Sarvamaa, the centre-right European People’s Party group’s spokesperson for budget issues, called the European Commission’s move to unlock around 10 billion euros for Hungary a “catastrophical decision.”
He asked, “How can the Commission evaluate something that is yet to exist?”
He noted that as the members to the National Judicial Council have not even been named, there is no way of knowing its impact on the rule of law situation in Hungary.
“Amongst the members of the budgetary control committee, we appealed to the commission already in November and encouraged them to wait out the entire process to establish the National Judicial Council,” he said.
“It really seems like Orbán’s blackmailing has succeeded.
“I decline to believe that the terrible timing of this decision was merely a bad coincidence, especially considering that we know how Orbán intends to hold the other 26 member states as hostages in the European Council later this week.”
Petri Sarvamaa
Iratxe García Pérez, head of the Socialists and Democrats group in the European parliament, opined that “unblocking funds for Orbán is a serious mistake” by European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen.
“Despite the promise of reform, the judiciary in Hungary is not independent,” she said.
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