"It would be wrong to judge sovereign states and their political communities by abstract and external concepts of rule of law, since they can vary from country to country, embedded in a national heritage," Trócsányi said.Continue reading
Speaking to the Austrian news portal Tiroler Tageszeitung, the Commissioner for Budget and Administration, Johannes Hahn, has announced that he will “take action with Hungary and set the mechanism in motion – because of suspicions of corruption and problems with public procurement.”
This article was originally published on our sister-site, Ungarn Heute.
In February, the European Court of Justice rejected the complaints of Hungary and Poland against the rule of law mechanism, so the EU Commission can initiate proceedings against the member states. At the end of the proceedings, there could even be a reduction of EU funds, reports Tiroler Tageszeitung. The article goes on to say that the prerequisite for this is when a country is thought highly likely to misuse EU money in violation of rule-of-law principles.
In the case of Poland, however, Commissioner Hahn does not see any possibility of application at the moment, “because of the problems within the judicial system.”
Hahn emphatically rejected speculations that Polish support for Ukrainian refugees could trigger mitigation at the EU Commission.
The performance of Poland, in particular, in taking in Ukrainian refugees is to be acknowledged without reservations, but that cannot mean that it is given carte blanche in terms of the rule of law,”
Hahn told the newspaper.
The EU Commission also continues to block funds from the coronavirus reconstruction fund “Next Generation EU” for Poland and Hungary – also because of doubts about their use in accordance with the rule of law.
Source: Tiroler Tageszeitung
Featured image: Johannes Hahn in the European Parliament Chamber in Strasbourg on June 8, 2021. Photo by MTI/EPA/AP pool