The European Commission has published the “Guidelines” of the Regulation which binds European Funds to respect the rule of law. The conflict in Ukraine and the situation of refugees make it more delicate the application of this procedure against Poland and Hungary.
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Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, will trigger the procedure for suspension of European funds to Poland and Hungary, for non-respect of the rule of law, while these two countries welcome Ukrainian refugees by hundreds of thousands?
The European Commission is in the expectation. “The political context has changed”, recognize several European sources that today have a hard time guessing what will be the next move. There is, however, no legal or technical obstacles to prevent the mechanism triggering. The last milestone was asked: the European Commission published, Wednesday, March 2, its “guidelines”. Thirty-nine pages that explain how it intends to apply this conditionality regime.
War or not war, the European deputies are impatient. They have been calling for months sending a letter of notification by the Commission, which would formally launch the procedure. “It is necessary to go now, claims Daniel Freund, German ecologist MEP. People die in Ukraine for this European perspective, for democracy. In this context, ignoring the autocratic trends within Europe it would be a bad signal. “Petri Sarvamaa, Member of the European People’s Party, which was rapporteur on this issue, said:” Changes in global policy have shown that we need weapons against oligarchy, cleptocracy. Respect for the state Law is more vital than ever. “
” wait for the pressure drops “
The Commission first expected that the Court of Justice of the European Union, seized by Poland and Hungary, decides on the legality of this by-law of December 2020 establishing a conditionality between respect for the State law and the payment of European funds. On February 16, the Court validated this mechanism. This judgment paved the way for the publication of the guidelines and, possibly, to the sending of a letter of notification to the states incriminated. “The governments of these two States have done everything to prevent the adoption of the rules or to weaken it. They were able to win fourteen months,” Regrette Ramona Coman, President of the Institute of European Studies of the Free University. from Brussels.
Today, a political decision is expected. The context is very unstable. Member States are starting to make their voices heard so that the commission still tempses before brandishing the financial weapon. “It may not be the time to embark on too punitive measures with respect to the EU’s Eastern border, faced directly at the influx of refugees. It may be necessary to Wait until the pressure drops “, declares an official of one of the Member States of the European Union. Conversely, other states want the question of the rule of law to be dissociated from the war in Ukraine. It is to the European Commission that the triggering of this procedure should be triggered.
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