No carte blanche for Orbán - the European Parliament takes the European Commission to court

Join us for the webinar organised by the Prague office and the EU office of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung.

Adéla Jurečková, director of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Prague, talks to the experts:

• 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

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WHEN:                  March 20, 2024 | 1 - 2 PM
WHERE:                Online on Zoom platform
REGISTRATION:  Please register by completing the electronic registration form at the top right corner of this page
LANGUAGE:         English
ORGANISERS:     Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union office in Brussels and Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung office in Prague

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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?

For questions, please contact

Zsófia Deák, Programme Coordinator | Democracy | Hungary | zsofia.deak@cz.boell.org

or

Zora Siebert, Head of Programme | EU Democracy & Digital Policy | zora.siebert@eu.boell.org

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