The failure of the European Commission to activate the rule-of-law mechanism and prevent Poland and Hungary from benefiting from EU funds is being hailed as a victory in Budapest. Warsaw is still mad about being forced to reverse its judicial reforms.
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The pro-government daily Magyar Nemzet was celebrating as a victory for Viktor Orban’s government the fact that the European Commission has so far refrained from deploying the rule-of-law conditionality against Hungary and Poland, despite pressure from the European Parliament.
This week the European Commission missed the two-month deadline to trigger a new rule-of-law mechanism that makes receiving billions in EU funds conditional on a country’s respect for the EU’s core values. Initially seen targeting the bloc’s two worst culprits, Hungary and Poland, potential punitive measures would include a suspension of payments and early repayment of loans. The measures can be later lifted if the disciplined country corrects the situation.
The conservative daily quotes from a letter sent by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to European Parliament President David Sassoli, in which she dismisses the criticism that the executive has failed to implement the rule-of-law conditionality.
Despite officially entering in force in January, the mechanism’s implementation has effectively been suspended by the European Commission until after the Hungarian parliamentary elections in the spring of 2022, the European Parliament claims. Hungary and Poland have challenged the new legislation at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), where rulings can take years.
Trying to speed up the process, the European Parliament adopted a resolution in March that threatened to sue the European Commission for inaction. Receiving no response, Sassoli then sent a formal letter to von der Leyen in June, addressing the executive’s failure to act.
In her official response, quoted by Magyar Nemzet, von der Leyen claimed the European Parliament had not come up with any specific case where the conditionality clause should have been implemented.
“As regards the application of the Regulation through the activation of the procedure in the most obvious cases, as requested in the resolution of 10 June 2021… for the Commission to be able to take a position, the Parliament should explain in concrete terms which are those cases, why it considers that the conditions set out in the Regulation are fulfilled and why the Commission would not have respected its obligation to act within a reasonable timeframe,” the letter read.
A Commission spokesperson confirmed that the executive doesn’t intend to take any action for the time being and is currently drafting guidelines to facilitate the practical implementation of the regulation. Consultation is set to finish in the early days of autumn.
Dutch MEP Sophie in ’t Veld tweeted that the letter is “not only an insult to Parliament, but an insult to European citizens”. Hungarian MEP Katalin Cseh followed up with: “We cannot let go until the rule of law mechanism is implemented. It’s time to go to court.” The parliament now has two months to file a lawsuit with the CJEU.
Meanwhile, Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro has accused the EU of conducting a “hybrid war” targeting Poland’s justice system. Speaking on Thursday to Radio Warszawa, Ziobro commented: “What is the EU telling us? That Poles cannot, via democratic elections, implement real reforms of the justice system.”
Ziobro said he hoped the Polish government could continue with its planned reforms, which would be “far-reaching and not necessarily pleasing the eurocrats who would prefer to limit Polish sovereignty.”
The European Commission regards the reforms spearheaded by the governing Law and Justice (PiS) since it came to power in 2015 as designed to politicise the judiciary and undermine its independence. Earlier this month, the CJEU issued two separate rulings that declared a disciplinary system for judges created by PiS as incompatible with EU law. The Polish government has since taken measures to halt the activities of the Disciplinary Chamber at the Supreme Court, following one of the CJEU rulings.
Hungary’s no-mask mega-Mass; childless couples look abroad
A week before the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress, to be held in Budapest, it was revealed that neither masks nor vaccination would be needed for those participating in the week-long series of events.
The huge Catholic gathering will attract tens of thousands of pilgrims and the final mass, celebrated by Pope Francis on September 12, is expected to attract as many as 100,000 worshippers to Hero’s Square.
The government-critical daily Népszava wrote that the organisers are praying that the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic won’t begin at this potential super-spreader event. Even so, they have decided to put in place no special epidemiological measures, such as mandatory mask wearing, social distancing or vaccination document checks on the pilgrims from over 70 countries, the daily wrote.
Both politicians and health experts now accept that Hungary will be unable to avoid a fourth wave of the pandemic, but the government evidently does not see mass gatherings as a source of concern, although it’s busy trying to convince parents to vaccinate their children aged 12-15 before the school year starts on September 1.
The previously hyped Hungarian vaccination campaign has lost its impetus, with only 55 per cent of the population fully vaccinated; elsewhere in the EU, Malta leads with almost 88 per cent vaccinated, followed by Belgium and Spain at 63 per cent and 60 per cent, respectively.
Still on health issues, the independent weekly hvg.hu investigated the consequences of the Hungarian government’s decision to nationalise all the country’s fertility clinics. In May, parliament passed a law that practically banned the last three remaining private fertility clinics (six were already nationalised at the end of 2019) from carrying out in-vitro fertilisation procedures, with the slogan that “demographic challenges in Hungary require state action”. Although the law will only become effective from July 2022, private clinics cannot offer any treatments after September 30.
Government ministers argued the aim of the policy was to make things “more transparent” and help Hungarian couples who wish to have children. “Human life is not a business,” stated Katalin Novak, the minister for family affairs.
State-run and private clinics had existed in parallel in Hungary, with state institutions offering clear benefits for couples like free treatments (up to five in-vitro fertilisations) and free medicines. Still, hundreds of couples opted for private clinics at considerably higher costs, as they complained about long waiting lists in the state sector; poor, impersonal service; and inadequate, not tailor-made treatments.
Now their only option is to go abroad, mostly to Slovakia and Czechia, where Hungarian-speaking staff have already reportedly been recruited to meet the demand.
i INCLUDED THESE TWO IMAGES BECAUISE THE ARCHITECTURE IS SO BEAUTIFUL