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The European Commission has decided to refer Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union over a law on the protection of national sovereignty that it considers to be in breach of EU law, the Brussels-based executive said on Thursday.
In its October package of decisions on infringement proceedings against individual member states, the commission recalled that it had sent a letter of formal notice to Hungary in February, expressing its concerns about the law.
As it did not find the reply satisfactory, it reiterated its objections in May in a reasoned opinion, in line with EU rules, on the infringement of fundamental rights enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the fundamental freedoms of the internal market and EU data protection legislation.
In its response, Hungary argued that the law on the protection of sovereignty does not violate EU law and that the concerns raised are unfounded,
the Brussels statement emphasized.
However, after assessing the response of the Hungarian authorities, the European Commission maintains that the majority of the objections identified remain unresolved.
The objections relate to violations of a number of fundamental rights, including the right to respect for private and family life, freedom of expression and information, freedom of association, the right to legal professional privilege, and the presumption of innocence and the consequent prohibition of self-incrimination.
The European Commission also considers that the law infringes a number of fundamental freedoms of the internal market, the e-commerce directive, the services directive and EU data protection legislation.
They also complained that the law gives the Office for the Protection of Sovereignty very broad discretionary powers as to the opening, duration, subject matter and purpose of investigations falling within its remit, in particular as regards access to data, and empowers it to intervene in the proceedings.
The Hungarian law provides for a high degree of publicity for investigations and their findings in individual cases.
In the view of the EU Commission, this has negative consequences for the entities concerned and may have a stigmatizing effect.
The office’s broad powers and wide discretionary powers will disproportionately affect many people and institutions, including NGOs, media organizations and journalists, they added.
MEP András László reacted to the Commission’s decision, saying that “The Hungarian Parliament adopted legislation to defend Hungary’s sovereignty and to prevent the massive foreign interference that we have witnessed during the 2022 election campaign. (…) The national law on the Defense of Sovereignty was not adopted for fun. It was a response to the valid outrage of Hungarians when they learned about the illegal foreign funding.”
Hungarian sovereignty is NOT for SALE!
The Hungarian Parliament adopted legislation to defend Hungary’s
sovereignty and to prevent the massive foreign interference that we have
witnessed during the 2022 election campaign. Media, NGOs and political
organizations received USD… pic.twitter.com/ZdgHYELNfw— András László MEP (@laszloan) October 3, 2024
Via MTI; Featured image via Pixabay
