European funds and the rule of law: a judgment scrutinized throughout the EU

As a sign of the importance attached to this case, the CJEU has planned for the first time to broadcast live the reading of its Polish and Hungarian judgments.

Francois Lenoir/REUTERS

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Can the European Union deprive of European funds one of its members who does not respect the rule of law?

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) must rule this Wednesday morning on the legality of this new regulation which targets Poland and Hungary. 

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This is proof of the expectation around this decision.

For the first time this Wednesday morning, the reading of the judgments in Hungarian and Polish will be broadcast live by the

. 

Unless there is a big surprise, the body should follow the opinion of the Advocate General and reject the appeals from Warsaw and Brussels, or give a green light to the application of the “regulation on conditionality”.

In other words, if a Member State does not respect the law, then it can be deprived of European funds. 

An unprecedented mechanism set up last year and activated against Poland and Hungary for their violations of fundamental rights.

For several months, Brussels has been criticizing

for its attacks on the independence of justice, the questioning of the primacy of European law.

With regard to

, the Commission points to problems in the award of public contracts and conflicts of interest.

Funds of several billion euros

If this mechanism is applied, Hungary and Poland could therefore be deprived of funds from the European budget and part of the post-Covid recovery plans, i.e. the equivalent of several billion euros.

But there is still a long way to go since the Commission itself recognizes it: “ 

 ” are still to be finalized.

Not to mention that elections are scheduled in two months in Hungary.

And Brussels fears being accused of interference.

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