European Parliament committee releases draft report criticising Hungary rule of law

The European Parliament’s civil liberties committee has released a draft report criticising the state of the rule of law in Hungary.

Last spring, the EP’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) was asked to prepare a report on Hungary with a view to holding an EP vote on launching the first steps of Article 7, which suspends voting rights.

Presenting the report in a session of the committee in Brussels on Thursday, Green MEP Judith Sargentini said there was a “clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values of the European Union”, which she said warranted launching the Article 7 procedure.

Sargentini said the Hungarian government had curbed the powers of Hungary’s Constitutional Court and judicial independence and launched attacks against civil society.

The state of press freedom and freedom of expression have also deteriorated, she said.

She said the report was not about the situation of asylum seekers in Hungary but rather about the fundamental rights of Hungarians and how the state treats its own citizens. Given the situation in Hungary, the EU has a duty to act, she added. “The time for warnings has passed.”

Roberta Metsola of the European People’s Party (EPP) said the report was not aimed as an attack against Hungary, emphasising that it would be wrong to “try to draw political capital” from it. She added, at the same time, that there were several points in the document that, in the EPP’s opinion, “would not … seem to fit with the ultimate aim of this report”.

Social Democrat MEP Ana Gomes said the situation in Hungary was “worrying”, adding that it had deteriorated significantly over the past few years. “There is a systemic threat to democracy and the rule of law and fundamental rights in Hungary,” Gomes said. She also highlighted minority rights, the right to the freedom of assembly, academic freedom, corruption and the rights of asylum seekers as problematic areas.