Hungary continues to say no to joining European Public Prosecutor’s Office

Hungary maintains it has no intention of taking part in the enhanced cooperation for the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, and a possible review of this position is not on the agenda, Justice Minister László Trócsányi told the Hungarian news agency MTI after the Luxembourg meeting of the home and justice ministers of EU Member States.

The Justice Minister said that on the occasion of the council meeting he had talks with European Commissioner for Justice Vera Jourová who informed him about the latest developments concerning the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the draft regulation on the protection of the EU’s budget in the event of the emergence of general shortcomings in the state of the rule of law introduced on 2 May as part of the next Multiannual Financial Framework.

He said it is imperative for Hungary that the powers of the prosecution service to be established, the European Union’s Judicial Cooperation Unit (Eurojust) cooperating with local authorities and coordinating investigations and criminal proceedings involving multiple countries and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) should be clearly defined and separated. He would also like to learn more about the proposal concerning the details of cooperation between the public prosecutor’s office and the Member States not participating in the enhanced cooperation as soon as possible.

In the context of the proposed regulation concerning the conditionality of the rule of law, the Minister underlined that the proposal raises concerns for Hungary for a number of reasons.

He highlighted it is doubtful that the cited Article of the EU Treaties would constitute appropriate grounds.

The Minister told MTI that he had met with German Justice Minister Katarina Barley whom he informed about the measures planned to be adopted with a view to the enhancement of public trust in the administration of justice against the background of fully respecting the principle of judicial independence. He said the Ministry of Justice will prepare – in cooperation with a committee comprised of judges and university professors – a report on the tasks the Hungarian judiciary is facing and the models of judicial administration in an international context. Mr Trócsányi will pay a visit to Berlin in the near future in order to analyse German judicial experiences.

The Minister said that in the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council ministers conducted a debate on the proposed directive on the sale of goods concerning the area of contract law. Hungary agrees that standard regulations should apply to goods, regardless of whether they are conventional goods or so-called smart goods with embedded digital content, he indicated.

Concerning the legal remedies available to consumers in the event of defective performance, Hungary proposed that the directive should contain, or at least should not rule out at the level of national law, the option recognised by Hungarian law which allows the beneficiary to repair the defect or to have the defect repaired at the obligor’s expense. Regarding the deadlines for the enforcement of claims, Hungary supported the solution that the proposal should only determine a minimum time limit and should allow the Member States to depart from that time limit in favour of consumers, he said.