Hungary and Poland blocked the adoption of the European Union budget for the period 2021-2027. He does not agree that the disbursement of money from European funds should be conditional on respect for the rule of law. DPA and Reuters reported.
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The veto of the two member states applies to both the planned coronavirus aid package of 750 billion euros (19.8 trillion crowns) and the seven-year EU budget of 1.1 trillion euros (29 trillion crowns). Hungary threatened to veto the European Union budget on period 2021-2027, Reuters reported. The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is upset by the intention to condition the disbursement of money from European funds by respecting the principles of the rule of law. Poland has a similar approach.
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#Hungary plans to veto the EU’s 2021-27 budget and its post-COVID recovery scheme over a proposal to make funding conditional on the state of the rule of law. #Orban shows that he cares more about wrecking democratic institutions than about moving forward. https://t.co/lmipoBJj6n
– Mikuláš Peksa (@vonpecka) November 16, 2020
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The Hungarian position was confirmed today by the spokesman of the Hungarian government, Zoltán Kovács. “Your deduction is correct,” he told Reuters if Hungary would attend a meeting to veto the budget and the economic recovery fund unless the condition was reconsidered.
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Representatives of the Member States and the European Parliament agreed on the dependence of the EU money on the rule of law. In the future, according to them, the payment of money should be linked to respect for democratic principles such as the independence of the judiciary or freedom of speech.
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Apart from Hungary, Warsaw does not agree with this principle. In a letter last week, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki threatened EU officials with a similar move to Budapest.
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Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said today that the conditionality of the EU budget is designed to “limit Polish sovereignty”. According to him, Warsaw should veto the budget under these conditions. “I am convinced that, like Prime Minister Orbán, Prime Minister Morawiecki will exercise this right,” the minister was quoted as saying by Reuters.
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Poland argues that linking the use of EU funds to the rule of law would violate EU rules and could lead to countries losing money from subjective political reasons.
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Hungary is set to receive around 25% of its pre-pandemic GDP from the EU budget in 2021-27, excluding RRF loans and CAP payments. Wonder what Orban realistically expects with these empty threats. https://t.co/FSqZqd7OXW
— Daniel Kral (@DanielKral1) November 9, 2020
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The EU institutions have been conducting proceedings with Hungary and Poland for several years over fears of violating European values. They accuse them of undermining the independence of the judiciary and the media and restricting NGOs.
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Proposals to suspend the payment of money within the Union budget should be submitted by the European Commission. The country would have to confirm its suggestions by a qualified majority. This agreed compromise is more lenient than the Commission’s original request that Brussels could directly wean a country out of money, which the states could reverse by that majority.
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