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Rightwing lawmakers across Europe accuse the EU’s ambitious green and digital agendas of punishing citizens and businesses, as well as raising costs.
Doubling down
Starved of EU funds and in the midst of a technical recession, Hungary is upping the ante with Brussels in the hopes of obtaining political dividends, write Paola Tamma and Marton Dunai.
Context: In June the European Court of Justice fined Budapest €200mn due to its asylum rules breaching EU law, plus €1mn per day until Hungary amends them. The money is currently being held back from regular EU payouts to the country, amounting to a total of around €400mn by the end of the year.
Viktor Orbán’s government late on Wednesday passed a decree saying that “further steps are necessary about the verdict”. The ECJ ruling cannot be appealed, but the decree nonetheless calls for compensation.
“The judgment of the European Court of Justice is outrageous” and “suffers from several errors”, said Hungarian justice minister Bence Tuzson. “If an EU institution causes damage to a member state, and it caused damage by making this decision, a compensation lawsuit can be initiated.”
The threat of legal action comes after the European Commission earlier this week rejected Hungary’s request to unblock parts of EU funds that were frozen over separate concerns on the rule of law, which Brussels says have not been addressed sufficiently.
Some €19bn allotted to Hungary remains blocked, due to concerns over corruption and judicial independence.
The commission did not respond to a request for comment.
What to watch today
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosts Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal in Berlin.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán meets Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev and in Sofia.
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Publish date : 2024-12-19 16:00:00
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