In Hungary it has been clear for years why the independence of the judiciary is not an abstract principle and why it concerns all EU Member States when this principle is violated in one country.
EU funds are allegedly used there on a large scale to increase the personal wealth of people associated with the ruling party Fidesz.
The names and events are known, they appear in reports from the EU anti-fraud authority OLAF.
This has never had any further consequences, as the Hungarian judiciary has shown no interest in taking cases of corruption and nepotism seriously if the beneficiaries have the right political connections.
In the interests of all EU citizens
It is in the interests of all EU citizens that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has now rejected Hungary and Poland's lawsuit against the regulation giving the EU a remedy against such misuse of all taxpayers' money in the EU.
The EU can now withdraw funds from member states if their proper use cannot be ensured due to systematic violations of the rule of law.
This is great progress.
But the regulation adopted at the end of 2020 to protect the EU budget does not cover the fundamental problem that the dismantling of the rule of law in individual member states means for the community.
This will not change anything in terms of the political dependency and instrumentalization of the judiciary in Hungary and Poland.
There is much more at stake here than the use of EU funds.
It is about the functioning of the Community, which depends to a large extent on the fundamental rights of citizens being guaranteed everywhere, on companies enjoying legal certainty in all Member States.
And it's about preserving democracy.
A look at Poland shows that.
His government does not have a reputation for corruption – at least not yet.
But in connection with a wiretapping scandal, it is becoming clear how the judiciary was used before the 2019 parliamentary election to obstruct the opposition's election campaign.