MEPs are demanding the launch of an infringement procedure against Hungary for breaching ‘core EU values’, just days after Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s sweeping election success.
The demand is made in a draft report by the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee, published on Thursday (12 April), which lists 12 breaches. These include the weakening of the Constitutional Court and the judiciary, corruption, restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly and intimidation of the media, non-governmental organizations and research institutions.
It also expresses concerns over violations of fundamental rights of refugees and minorities.
Due to “the existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded”, the report calls on EU leaders to trigger Article 7 of the EU treaty, a process that could end with the suspension of Hungary’s voting rights.
Article 7, nicknamed the Nuclear Option, has already been instigated against Poland, another ex-communist Eastern member, but has so far been stuck in the preliminary stages, with little appetite among other countries to activate sanctions procedures.
“The time of merely issuing warnings has passed. We need to stand up for the Hungarian people whose rights have been undermined by their government,” Green MEP Judith Sargentini, who authored the report, said in a video statement.
"Time for warnings has passed! EU must stand up for rule of law and trigger Article 7 proceedings against #Hungary," says our MEP @judithineuropa responsible for investigating the infringement of fundamental rights by the Hungarian Government.
Read here🔗https://t.co/KnQnBIii6P pic.twitter.com/WALI31waDD— Greens in the EP (@GreensEP) April 12, 2018
In the report, Sargentini stated that the “facts and trends” of her findings “represent a systemic threat to democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in Hungary.”
It is the first time that an MEP has given official advice to start an Article 7 procedure.
The Civil Liberties Committee was tasked in May 2017 with assessing whether an infringement procedure against Hungary would be appropriate.
Since then, the Dutch rapporteur and her colleagues have conducted a series of interviews with experts, academics, representatives of the Hungarian government, the Venice Commission and NGOs, and evaluated documents on the state of the rule of law in the country.
“We have been seeing for years that Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister, is shifting aside all the standards and values of the European Union,” said another Green MEP, Bart Staes.
“Various investigations by independent international organizations show that the Hungarian rule of law has rapidly deteriorated due to the policies of the Hungarian government,” Staes said, adding that “if a country clearly no longer subscribes to the shared values, it must be acted upon before it goes down to an authoritarian regime.”
The Committee will vote on Sargentini’s proposal in June. The report will then be put to a vote by the Parliament in September. To be adopted, it will need two-thirds of the votes cast and an absolute majority of MEPs.
“I cannot reach any other conclusion than to call for the activation of article 7", @judithineuropa concluded.
Read the draft report on #hungary here:https://t.co/yYW7PPBgNd— HunHelsinkiCommittee (@hhc_helsinki) April 12, 2018
However, it is unlikely that the report will have any real consequences for Budapest. Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party belongs to the conservative European People’s Party, the most powerful camp in the Parliament, which has so far been reluctant to condemn Orban’s policies.
Moreover, a suspension of voting rights has to be agreed in unanimity. Hungary has already said it would veto any such attempt against Poland, and Warsaw is likely to reciprocate in support of Budapest. But there is also a possibility of voting Article 7 on Poland and Hungary simultaneously, and in this case both countries have no right to vote.