Debate: Ongoing hearings under article of the TEU regarding Hungary
Date: WEDNESDAY, 15 JANUARY 2020
Speaker: Věra Jourová
Language: EN

As regards the situation in Hungary, the Commission has already explained on different occasions that it shares an important number of concerns expressed by the European Parliament in its recent proposal triggering the Article 7 procedure. The Commission has also made very clear that, whatever position the Council will be taking on the Article 7 procedure, it must ensure a fair handling of the reasoned proposal put forward by the European Parliament. Most recently, the Commission stressed this again during the hearing of Hungary in the General Affairs Council on 10 December. Let me briefly update you on developments in Hungary that have occurred in a number of areas covered by the European Parliament’s reasoned opinion. In the area of the rule of law, new legislation with substantial changes to the structure and functioning of the judicial system was adopted on 10 December without public consultation or consultation of the Venice Commission. We are assessing that legislation. On 10 September 2019, the Hungarian Supreme Court issued a judgment declaring unlawful an order by a district court judge requesting a preliminary ruling of the Court of Justice. This may have an impact on the EU preliminary reference mechanism. The National Judicial Council is still facing difficulties in counterbalancing the power of the President of the National Office for the Judiciary, who is in charge of the management of the judicial system. In the area of media pluralism, last December, six international organisations of journalists and media published a report stating that, since 2010, the Hungarian Government has systematically dismantled media pluralism, in particular because media ownership is concentrated in the hands of the Government and the media market is distorted by state advertising. And further developments raised concerns. The impact of the merger of more than 400 media outlets into one single holding has been analysed by a report published in July by the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF). This report concluded that the establishment of this merger will exacerbate the overall risk to media pluralism in Hungary. The report pointed to the government decision to exempt the merger from the scrutiny of both the National Competition Authority and the Media Authority. As regards academic freedom, you will be aware that the Central European University had to relocate its US-accredited academic programmes from Budapest to Vienna. Also, a new law on the financing of research has been criticised by the national and international scientific community because it detached 15 academic research institutes from the independent Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The Commission is following closely all these developments and has already shown that it is determined to use all the instruments at its disposal to address the concerns raised by certain measures adopted by the Hungarian authorities. In particular, the Commission has launched a number of infringement proceedings against Hungary. These relate to the rights of civil society organisations, academic freedom and the rights of migrants and asylum seekers. The Commission is also using other instruments such as the European Semester. On 9 July 2019, the Council, following a Commission proposal, recommended that Hungary strengthen judicial independence and reinforce its anti—corruption framework, including by improving prosecutorial efforts and access to public information. To conclude, I would like to recall that the Commission remains available to engage with the Hungarian authorities on resolving rule-of-law issues. This is a matter of common interest for the EU, the Member States and citizens.