EC Justice Commissioner: Hungary’s Recovery Funds Frozen

Reading Time: < 1 minute

EC Justice Commissioner: Hungary’s Recovery Funds Frozen July 20, 2021 < 1min read There are systemic problems with the rule of law in Hungary, so the European Commission is use its legal toolkit – including the freezing of EU funds for the country – in defence of democracy – according to Didier Reynders, EC commissioner for justice. Speaking to three media outlets (Hungary’s EUrologus/HVG, Politico Europe and Slovenian Delo daily) Reynders said, the European Commission won’t approve the Hungarian EU recovery COVID-19 recovery fund plans until the Orbán government implements judicial reform and provides adequate guarantees that corruption cases uncovered by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) are thoroughly investigated by national authorities.

The justice commissioner spoke about Hungary ahead of a presentation of the EU’s annual rule of law report published on Tuesday which surveys the rule of law situation in all 27 member states in the following key areas: the independence of the judiciary, fight against corruption, diversity of the press and how well the system of checks and balances functions.

The latest edition of the rule of law report puts a lot of emphasis on how democratic values and fundamental rights were respected by governments during the pandemic. Hungary is entitled to receive HUF 2,511 billion in non-refundable funds, the first tranche of which, HUF 326 billion, would arrive within a few weeks after the approval of the member states. If the Hungarian plan is not included in the agenda of the meeting of finance ministers for July the 26th, a decision on it may be made in September at the earliest.

CET Editor

Recent Posts

Poland tops employment rankings – OECD report

The EU’s employment rate reached a record high of 70.9% in the fourth quarter of…

2 days ago

Greece plans to repay Eurozone’s bailout loans whole decade in advance

Greece has announced plans to repay its first bailout loans a decade ahead of schedule,…

2 days ago

CEE economies tougher than you may think – ING

Despite their export-driven economies and strong manufacturing bases, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries may…

2 days ago

Slovenia mulls French, US bids for nuclear project

Slovenia is at the centre of a strategic struggle between France and the US, as…

2 days ago

Single market is not single, and it’s costing us all

The EU’s internal market is still falling short of its founding promise. Despite decades of…

6 days ago

Foot-and-mouth sees culls, CEE border closures

An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has prompted mass animal culls and tightened border controls…

1 week ago