On Monday evening, the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) decided whether to refer the European Commission to the Court of Justice of the European Union for unblocking previously frozen funds for Hungary.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen smiles before the start of the EPP Congress in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
The result of the committee’s vote was a recommendation that the case be referred to the EU’s top court. However, the decision to do so must be ratified by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
Should Metsola not agree with the proposal, it will go to the Conference of Presidents, i.e., the leaders of the parliament’s political groups.
However, this means that a delicate situation would arise within the European People’s Party (EPP), which has become increasingly entrenched in the liberal mainstream over the past few years. During the campaign period, it was up to the EPP president to decide whether the institution led by the EPP’s top candidate, Ursula von der Leyen, should be brought before the courts.
Fidesz MEP Ernő Schaller-Baross told Magyar Nemzet the situation was becoming farcical.
“What the European Parliament is doing is nonsense from a legal point of view, since it is nothing more than a case of going to the European Court of Justice to legally impose its own political demands, without regard for legal limits.
“It expects the Court of Justice to annul the Commission’s decision on the EU funds due to Hungary because it did not take sufficient account of the parliament’s political arguments,” he said.
Putting the developments into context, the MEP added that the dangers of the disempowerment of democracy and politics, as well as the political bias in the functioning of the EU that filters into legal procedures, are dangerous.
“It is telling that the European Parliament’s Legal Service is unable or does not dare to give an opinion on the legal action, as there is no legal basis for such a lawsuit, which clearly shows that it is a political dispute,” he added.
Schaller-Baross said that the upcoming EU elections will be an opportunity for the electorate to voice its demand for a better democracy: “With less than a hundred days to go until the European elections, European voters will have their say on the functioning of the EU institutions in the spirit of their demand for a better democracy. Change is needed in Brussels. We hope that political forces that want to build a Europe of nations and respect our EU treaties will win a majority in the EP elections in June.”