EU funds: the deadline is close but the European Commission is still concerned

If there is agreement on the Hungarian recovery and resilience facility (RRF), vigorous and effective implementation of the reforms will be of utmost importance, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said on Friday.

Reynders told a press conference after the meeting of the General Affairs Council in Brussels that the EU still had concerns about judicial independence in Hungary and it was therefore important that the Hungarian government should address this area. He added that talks with Justice Minister Judit Varga had been held in a very constructive way and “we made the maximum use of these discussions to protect the Hungarian judiciary from any political interferences.”

“What this overall picture tells us is that there are still a number of very important concerns covering many key aspects of the rule of law,” Reynders said. “What is important is that channels of communication stay open,” he said, adding that the commission was “always available and open to engage in dialogue with the Hungarian authorities”.

Czech Minister for European Affairs Mikulas Bek, representing the current presidency of the EU, told the press conference that Friday’s debate on the rule of law situation in Hungary was “a signal for some member states that there is some progress on the Hungarian side”, while others still had reservations.