Rule-of-law mechanism was activated against Hungary but not Poland

Johannes Hahn, the Commissioner for Budget and Administration, is sending a notification letter to Hungary on Wednesday, activating the mechanism linking European Union funding to the rule of law, EC Vice-President Margaritis Schinas said.

Vera Jourova, the Vice-President for Values and Transparency, said on Twitter that the conditionality mechanism will be activated by the letter. “We identified issues that might be breaching [the rule of law] in HU and affect the EU budget,” she said.

Blikk.hu wrote that the EC did not find ground to start the rule-of-law mechanism against Poland.

Jourova said the EC decision was in line with an earlier ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU, under which the commission needs to prove a link between the rule of law and the impact of deficiencies on the European budget. Suspension of payments to Hungary could arise from deficiencies in the national anti-corruption strategy and could impact a large part of EU funding, including cohesion and agricultural funds. Hahn said on Twitter that under its obligation to protect the European budget, the commission would scrutinise each member state within the auspices of the mechanism.

• Read also: Hungary to lose significant EU funding?

Meanwhile, the parliamentary parties have failed to agree on staffing the leading positions in parliament, and so that task falls to the House Speaker, Fidesz group leader Máté Kocsis said on Wednesday.

The ruling Fidesz and Christian Democrat (KDNP) parties maintain their proposal that the opposition should appoint one-third of parliamentary positions, “despite the fact that the number of opposition lawmakers has declined since four years ago,” Kocsis told a press conference. He said the proposal was “fair and proportionate to parliamentary mandates”.