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European Union: Hungary threatens to cut EU funds

European Union: Hungary threatens to cut EU funds

Ursula von der Leyen does not waste any time. On the agenda in the European Parliament is the debate on the EU summit, at which Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron tried in vain to push through an EU summit with Vladimir Putin in addition to further sanctions against Russia. For the head of the EU Commission, the debates about the right strategy towards Russia and Turkey as well as the pandemic are only worth a subordinate clause, because more important is “our discussion on a topic that touches the core of our identity: our values”.

She means the very personal debate at the summit on Hungary’s new LGBTI law, but von der Leyen will explain exactly how her commission will react against the government’s attacks on the rule of law in Budapest. The instruments range from the rule of law mechanism that has been in place since January to protect the EU budget, to lawsuits before the European Court of Justice (ECJ), to the strict examination of corona aid, which requires country-specific reforms to be approved. The means are all known. What is new is the clear announcement by the Commission President that she wants to use this.

Von der Leyen again calls the Hungarian LGBTI law “shameful”: It contradicts the basic values ​​of the EU anchored in Article 2 of the EU Treaty and above all the protection of minorities. Everyone wanted to protect children, but the law forbids under 18-year-olds to see depictions of lesbians and gays, the CDU politician said. It rejects Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s argument that this information could harm the physical and moral development of minors, and reiterates the analysis shared by at least 17 heads of state and government: “This law puts homosexuality and sex reassignment on a par with pornography.” She has announced infringement proceedings should Budapest fail to address the concerns.

The rule of law mechanism will be applied in the autumn

Then von der Leyen speaks out what her environment has been spreading for days: In the autumn, the first procedures of the rule of law mechanism will be launched, which could lead to funding cuts. It can be heard that around nine EU countries are affected. Von der Leyen is reacting to the EU Parliament’s threat to sue its commission for inaction. The latter wanted to wait until the ECJ had decided on a lawsuit from Hungary and Poland; the hearing is scheduled for mid-October. “No case is lost,” assures von der Leyen.

For days there has been speculation in Brussels as to when she will stop in Budapest to announce the approval of the national Corona package worth 7.2 billion euros. For that there would have to be a joint appearance with Orbán. Several media are now reporting that the Commission is demanding that Budapest take stronger precautions against improper use of the funds. The Euronews broadcaster Justice Minister Judit Varga said the commission had made “new demands related to the law on protection against pedophilia”.

In parliament, following questions from several MPs, Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová made it clear that the authority had not rejected the Hungarian plan: “The talks are still going on.” The former Federal Minister of Justice Katarina Barley, who sits for the SPD in the EU Parliament, is not very impressed: “Ursula von der Leyen’s clear words are a first step, now action must follow.”

It gets personal in a separate debate on the rule of law and fundamental rights in Poland and Hungary. The social democrat Robert Biedroń reports of the constant fear “that something will happen to my husband when we are in Poland”. The Hungarian liberal Katalin Cseh commemorates the gay civil rights activist Milán Rózsa, who took his own life in 2014. “One of his last actions was the protest against Putin’s anti-homosexual law and a copy of it is now in the EU,” said Cseh of her home country.

Shortly afterwards, the dpa news agency reported that authorities in Budapest had punished a bookstore for selling a fairy tale book about a so-called rainbow family without special labeling. The head of the Pest District Government Office, Richárd Tarnai, told the government-affiliated station Hir TV that the book “What a Family!” von Lawrence Schimel and Elina Braslina should have been expelled because they “do not represent normal families”.

The basis for the fine of around 700 euros, however, was not the controversial LGBTI law, but a legal act against unfair competition. Tarnai interpreted this in such a way that labeling is mandatory if a product does not comply with the values ​​of the constitution – and this is the principle that a family consists of father, mother and child.

Opinion: EU funds for Hungary could be cut immediately

Meanwhile, MEPs are increasing the pressure on the Commission to swiftly apply the new rule of law conditionality. A number of specialist politicians have commissioned law professors for an opinion that was presented in Strasbourg. According to this, a procedure could be initiated immediately to cut EU funding, since its lawful use cannot be guaranteed.

Kim Scheppele, who teaches at the elite Princeton University, and her co-authors Daniel Kelemen from the US University Rutgers and John Morijn from Groningen, among other things, lack sufficient transparency in the administration of EU funds and an effective national law enforcement agency Identify or prosecute cases of fraud. “This study forms the legal basis for a sanction procedure,” says the Greens Daniel Freund. He asked the Commission to put the report in an envelope and send it to Orbán. This is unlikely to happen, but a few letters will still go back and forth between Budapest and Brussels.

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