Its decision was expected, and its judgment sounds like a setback for Hungary and Poland: the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) validated, on Wednesday February 16, a device linking the payment of European funds to compliance with the rule of law.

The CJEU, whose decision was for the first time broadcast live on its website, followed the opinion of the Advocate General and rejected the actions for annulment brought by Budapest and Warsaw against this regulation.

"This mechanism was adopted on an adequate legal basis" and "respects the limits of the competences attributed to the Union as well as the principle of legal certainty", indicates in particular the Court in a press release.

Poland immediately denounced an "attack on (its) sovereignty".

Hungary, through its Minister of Justice Judit Varga, castigated a "political decision" linked to the law on homosexuality adopted this summer in Budapest, much criticized within the EU.

Berlin, on the other hand, welcomed a judgment which "strengthens our community of values".

The approval by the courts of this unprecedented instrument will increase the pressure on the Commission, responsible for activating it.

The European executive had agreed, in agreement with the Twenty-Seven, to wait for the opinion of the CJEU before acting, while the regulation has been in force since January 1, 2021.

The European Parliament expects the Commission to act

"We will act with determination," assured its president, Ursula von der Leyen in a tweet, welcoming the Court's decision.

For months, the European Parliament has been growing impatient.

He even filed an appeal for inaction against the Commission.

Pushed to action, the European executive had sent letters in November to Poland and Hungary setting out again its criticisms of respect for the rule of law in these two countries of the former Eastern bloc. .

On the Hungarian side, the Commission raised problems relating to public procurement, conflicts of interest and corruption.

With regard to Warsaw, the attacks on the independence of judges and the questioning of the primacy of European law and the decisions of the CJEU are targeted.

"The European Parliament now expects the Commission to quickly apply the conditionality mechanism", reacted the Maltese Roberta Metsola (EPP, right), president of this assembly where a debate on the question is to be held on Wednesday afternoon.

“Values ​​matter, and citizens have a right to know how common funds are used,” she added.

French MEP Fabienne Keller (Renew Europe) rejoiced at a "major victory": "Europe is finally acquiring powerful and concrete leverage to sanction populist leaders who want to silence all counter- powers of our democratic model," she said.

Hungary and Poland among the main beneficiaries of European funds

“With this judgment, the very last excuse for the European Commission to do nothing falls,” tweeted MEP Daniel Freund (Greens).

But triggering such a procedure could take weeks or even longer.

The Commission still wants to finalize "guidelines" to implement it.

And the course, on April 3, of legislative elections in Hungary where the sovereignist Prime Minister Viktor Orban will face an alliance of the opposition, complicates the situation, Brussels fearing to be accused of interference.

The regulation makes it possible to deprive of European funds a country where violations of the rule of law are observed which "damage or risk harming" the financial interests of the EU, "in a sufficiently direct manner".

A possible suspension or reduction of payments must be endorsed by at least 15 out of 27 Member States.

The mechanism applies to funds paid within the framework of the European budget, which constitute substantial sums for these two countries – they are among the main net beneficiaries of European funds –, as well as to post-Covid recovery plans.

Those of Poland and Hungary have still not been approved.

Resulting from a difficult compromise reached in 2020, this "conditionality regime" was demanded by several Member States including the Netherlands to protect EU finances.

Among the instruments available to the EU to fight against attacks on democratic principles, it could prove to be the most effective.

The procedure of Article 7 of the Treaty on the EU, launched against Poland and Hungary, makes it possible to sanction a country for not respecting the values ​​of the EU.

It can go so far as to deprive him of his right to vote on the Board, but has proved in practice impossible to carry out.

With AFP

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