No carte blanche for Orbán - the European Parliament takes the European Commission to court
Channel: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union
Date: 2024-03-20

With resounding support spanning the political spectrum, the European Parliament made a decisive move on 11 March to initiate a lawsuit against the European Commission before the European Court of Justice.
This action stems from a resolution passed in Strasbourg in January 2024, wherein the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) and the Parliament's Legal Service were tasked with investigating the contentious release of €10.2 billion in frozen EU cohesion funds for Hungary. The release of these funds occurred despite Hungary ceasing to be a democracy and continuing to suffer from systemic corruption and rule of law deficiencies according to experts, multiple indexes and the European Parliament itself. Notably, the Commission's decision to unfreeze the funds coincided with mounting pressure from Viktor Orbán, who wielded the threat of disrupting the Union's united stance on Ukraine during an upcoming summit in December 2023.
While Budapest had initiated judicial reforms in May 2023 aimed at bolstering the independence of the judiciary and minimizing political interference, Members of the European Parliament contend that these reforms fall short of meeting the EU's standards for judicial independence. They argue that the measures implemented by Budapest lack adequate safeguards against political influence and are susceptible to circumvention or incomplete application.
The lawsuit is slated to be filed before 25 March, marking the beginning of a legal process that could have significant implications. What are the next steps, and to what degree will these legal actions impact Hungary's upcoming Council Presidency?
Discussion with Márta Pardavi, co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Kim Lane Scheppele, Professor of Sociology and International Affairs in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and Laurent Pech, Full Professor of Law, Dean of Law and Head of the Sutherland School of Law. Moderated by Adéla Jurečková, Director of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Prague.

Related content shared during the webinar:
-Venice Commission's report on the Sovereignty Protection law: https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/?pdf=CDL-AD(2024)001-e 
-EU Court of Auditors's report criticizing the new conditionality regime for having vague standards for freezing and unfreezing funds: https://aeur.eu/f/ax
-European Commission's cursory assessment of the Hungarian reforms that led to releasing the funds: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_23_6466
-Hungarian Helsinki Committee's visual guide helping to understand what funds are frozen on what bases in the case of Hungary: https://helsinki.hu/en/eu-funds-for-hungary-hungarian-helsinki-committee-data-visualization-scrollytelling/
-Detailed assessments done the Hungarian Helsinki Committe and other NGOS in Hungary with regard to judicial reform: https://helsinki.hu/en/akta/independence-of-the-judiciary/