Helsinki File: Rule of Law and the EU

This autumn, the procedure under Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union concerning Hungary, which has been ongoing since 2018, will be on the agenda of the General Affairs Council once again. At the … Read more

The Article 7 procedure concerning Hungary, which has been ongoing since 2018, focuses on serious breaches of the EU’s fundamental values, covering several rule of law and human rights issues not addressed by other EU procedures. The new government of Hungary has made several welcome commitments to address the systemic problems that have developed over the past decade and a half in the areas covered by the procedure, but addressing these properly is a longer-term process.

For the seventh year in a row, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee is contributing to the European Commission’s annual Rule of Law Report in coordination with other Hungarian human rights and anti-corruption CSOs in the framework of the stakeholder consultation launched by the European Commission.

In December 2022, European Union institutions suspended and tied to conditions Hungary’s access to EU funds under various procedures due to severe breaches of the rule of law and human rights. Ahead of the upcoming … Read more

The Article 7(1) TEU procedure against Hungary was launched by the European Parliament in 2018 to assess whether there is a clear risk of a serious breach of the Union’s fundamental values. Since then, the … Read more

For the sixth year in a row, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee is contributing to the European Commission’s annual Rule of Law Report in coordination with other Hungarian human rights and anti-corruption CSOs in the framework of the stakeholder consultation launched by the European Commission

In December 2022, European Union institutions suspended and tied to conditions Hungary’s access to EU funds under various procedures due to severe breaches of the rule of law and human rights. Ahead of the upcoming re-assessment by the Commission and the Council in the framework of the conditionality mechanism in December 2024, Hungarian civil society organisations looked at the steps the Hungarian government has taken to date to address the deficiencies identified by the Commission and the representatives of Member States in the Council.

Six years have passed since the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the Council of the European Union to determine, pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Treaty of the European Union, the existence of … Read more

Ahead of the June 2024 General Affairs Council, a group of Hungarian civil society organisations call on Member States of the European Union to finally take action in the Article 7 procedure against Hungary that … Read more

Hungary is in dire need of EU funds. Yet, as a consequence of systemic corruption, fundamental right violations and public policy deficiencies, the bulk of EU funding remains suspended. Financial measures affect Union Funds under the Multiannual Financial Framework (MMF), as well as the Recovery and Resiliency Facility (RRF). The Hungarian Helsinki Committee’s scrollytelling tool unpacks blocked payments for Hungary and the related procedures.

For the fifth year in a row, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee is contributing to the European Commission’s annual Rule of Law Report in coordination with other Hungarian human rights and anti-corruption CSOs. Once again, Amnesty … Read more

Less than one week before the scheduled decision on compliance with the judicial super milestones by the European Commission, the Hungarian government launched last-minute legislative amendments to cover at least part of the outstanding deficiencies … Read more

According to a recent assessment by civil society organisations, the Hungarian government has so far not complied with most of the conditions necessary to access EU funds. The government has not taken firm steps to fully address the rule of law and human rights problems that the European Union had identified. Barely anything has improved compared to the bleak situation at the end of April. The most significant deficiency relates to the compliance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, since the government hasn’t completely fulfilled any of the related four conditions.

The Hungarian government had not taken adequate steps in order to fully address the rule of law, corruption and human rights concerns raised by EU institutions, and so it had not complied with most of the conditions of accessing EU funds.

Selected rule of law and human rights developments in the light of the Article 7(1) TEU procedure

Hungary’s access to EU funds under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and under ten operative programmes are connected to a complex set of benchmarks, amongst these, four so-called super milestones aimed at strengthening the … Read more

Our updated assessment of Hungary’s compliance with the 4 super milestones aimed at restoring the independence of the judiciary looks at the implementation of the judicial package adopted in May 2023 by the Hungarian Parliament. … Read more

On 1 June 2023, the judicial reform package adopted by the Parliament to comply with the super milestones set out in Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience Plan with a view to enhancing the independence of the … Read more

On 30 May, there will be yet another hearing in the General Affairs Council in relation to Hungary in the framework of the procedure under Article 7(1) TEU that is aimed at determining whether there … Read more

On 3 May 2023, the Hungarian Parliament adopted Act X of 2023 on the Amendment of Certain Laws on Justice related to the Hungarian Recovery and Resilience Plan. The Hungarian government now claims to have met all four of the so-called super milestones aimed at restoring the independence of the judiciary set by the Council of the European Union as a precondition for accessing frozen EU funds under Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF).