Activities of Balázs HIDVÉGHI related to 2018/0902R(NLE)
Plenary speeches (1)
Existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded (debate)
Amendments (27)
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the scope of Article 7 TEU is not confined to the obligations under the Treaties, as in Article 258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and whereas the Union can assess the existence of a clear risk of a serious breach of the common values in areas falling under Member States’the EU's competences;
Amendment 25 #
D. whereas for several years the sEuropean instituation in Hungary has not been addressed and many concerns remain, and in the meantime many new issues have arisen, which is having a negative impact on the image of the Union, as well as its effectiveness and credibility in the defence of fundamental rights, human rights and democracy globally, and revealing the need to address them through concerted Union acs have been using the debates on the respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights as a pretext to put political pressure on certain Member States to change their policies which belong to their national competences; whereas Hungary has been attacked for more than 10 years because the European left cannot bear the power of a national government in Hungary that is firmly committed to classical European values and traditions and opposes the European liberal mainstream which tries to deny and eliminate these values and traditions;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas following the ad hoc delegation of its Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs to Budapest, Hungary, from 29 September to 1 October 2021, the majority of the members of the delegation still have serious concerns about democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in the country; whereas the delegation has concluded that the situarrived in Hungary with prejudices and political bias without seeking a real understanding of the events in the country; whereas the only aim of the visit for the majority of the members of the delegation hwas not improved since 2018, but has instead deterioratedto have their already established views echoed by certain ideologically biased NGOs;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas on 20 July 2021, the Commission indicated in the country chapter on Hungary of the 2021 Rule of Law Report that the transparency and quality of the legislative process remain a sothe Commission's Rule of Law Report does not present an objective and substantiated picturce of concern, although an amendment to the constthe rule of law situation will limit the powers of government as regards the ‘state of danger’ regime after July 2023; whereas concerns have been expressed about newly established private trusts receiving significant public funding, managed by board members close to the current governmentin Member States as it raises serious concerns as regards its concept, methodology, sources and content; whereas the evaluative findings of the Report reflect double standards and discrimination against Hungary is obvious when compared to the reports on other Member States;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas in its resolution of 17 April 2020 on EU coordinated action to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences4 , Parliament falsely deemed totally incompatible with European values the Hungarian Government’s decision to prolong the state of emergency iandefinitely, to authorise itself to rule by decree without a time limit, and to weaken the emergency oversight of the Hungarian Parliament created unnecessary political hysteria based on factual errors; whereas the extraordinary powers of the Government have only been exercised insofar as were necessary and proportionate to prevent, tackle and eliminate the COVID-19 outbreak and preventing and combating its detrimental effects; whereas, contrary to the fake news spread also in the European Parliament, the Hungarian National Assembly has been holding regular plenary and committee sessions since the state of danger was proclaimed; whereas in its opinion on the 2020 Convergence Programme of Hungary of 20 July 2020, the Council recommended ensuring that any emergency measures be strictly proportionate, limited in time and in line with European and international standards, that they do not interfere with business activities and the stability of the regulatory environment, and the effective involvement of social partners and stakeholders in the policy-making process; _________________ 4 OJ C 316, 6.8.2021, p. 2.
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas on 20 July 2021, the Commission indicated in the country chapter on Hungary of the 2021 Rule of Law Report that the Hungarian justice system performs well in terms of the length of proceedings and has a high level of digitalisthe Commission's Rule of Law Report reflects double standards, and discrimination, and that the gradual increase in the salaries of judges and prosecutgainst Hungary is obvious when compared to the reports continues; whereas, as regards judicial independence, the justice system has been subject to new developments adding to existing concerns: the new rules allowing for the appointment of members of the Constitutional Court to the Supreme Court (Kúria) outside the normal procedure have been put into practice and have enabled the election of the new Kúria President, whose position was also endowed with additional powers and who was elected despite an unfavourable opinion from the National Judicial Council (NJC); whereas the recommendation to strengthen judicial independence, made in the context of the European Semester, remains unadd other Member States; whereas this is the case when it comes to the independence of the judiciary; whereas regarding the effectiveness of the judiciary, even the Commission acknowledged that the Hungarian justice system performs well in terms of the length of proceedings and has a high level of digitalisation, and that the gradual incresased, including the need to formally reinforce the powers of the independent NJC to enable it to counterbalance the powers of the President of the National Office for the Judiciary the salaries of judges and prosecutors continues;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas on 20 July 2021, the Commission indicated in the country chapter on Hungary of the 2021 Rule of Law Report that the implementation of the anti-corruptithe Commission's Rule of Law Report reflects double standards, and discrimination against Hungary is obvious when compared to the reports on other Member States; whereas this is clearly demon strategy is ongoing, but its scope remains limited, and shortcomings persist as regards political pd by the fact the Commission portrays the situation more concerning in Hungary even though under several indicators Hungarty financing, lobbying and ‘revolving doors’; whereas risks of clientelism, favouritism and nepotism in high-level public administration, as well as risks arising fromperforms better than other Member States; whereas, for example, the indictment rate based on OLAF recommendations in Hungary is 67% which is nearly twice as much as EU average; whereas according to the lSink between businesses and political actors, remain unaddressed, independent control mechanisms remain insufficient for detecting corruption, and concerns remain regarding the lack of systematic checks and insufficient oversight of asset and interest declarations; whereas new criminal law provisions aim to address foreign bribery and informal payments in healthcare; whereas while the indictment rate for corruption cases is high, and some new high-level corruption cases have been opened since 2020, the track record for the investigation of allegations concerning high-level officials and their immediate circle remains limitedgle Market Scoreboard, as in previous years, Hungary's overall performance in the field of public procurement is "average", compared to nine Member States, where the overall performance is qualified as "unsatisfactory"; whereas new criminal law provisions aim to address foreign bribery and informal payments in healthcare;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas on 5 April 2022, the Commission President announced that Commissioner for Budget Johannes Hahn had informed the Hungarian authorities about the Commission’s plans to move on to the next step and formally trigger the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation5 , mainly over corruption concerns; whereas the Hungarian Government claims that no structural issues that would justify any well-founded rule-of-law related concern as regards the protection of the EU budget exists; whereas the fact that the procedure was announced only two days after the general elections and the landmark victory of the ruling parties in Hungary substantiates the political nature of the procedure; _________________ 5 Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 of 16 December 2020 on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget, OJ L 433 I , 22.12.2020, p. 1.
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas on 20 July 2021, the Commission indicated in the country chapter on Hungary of the 2021 Rule of Law Report that media pluralism remains at risk and that concerns persist with regard to the independence and effectiveness of the Media Authority, also in the light of the Media Council’s decisions leading to independent radio station Klubrádió being taken off air; whereas while no media support schemes were established to counter the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on news media outlets, significant amounts of state advertising have continued to permit the government to exert indirect political influence over the media; whereas access to public information was tightened through emergency measures introduced during the pandemic, making timely access to such information harder for independent media outlets; whereas independent media outlets and journalists continue to face obstruction and intimidationthe Commission's Rule of Law Report does not present an objective and substantiated picture of the media situation in Hungary, which is clearly more balanced than in other Western European countries when it comes to the plurality of opinions and the liveliness of public debate; whereas both right-wing, conservative views as well as left-wing, liberal views are equally represented in the Hungarian media which is not the case in many other Member States; whereas the Commission and the Parliament aim to interfere in individual matters which belong to the competence of national constitutional bodies; whereas the case of Klubrádió is a clear an example of this;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
La. whereas the Government has taken several steps to react to the economic and social consequences of the pandemic and considerable support has been provided for the artistic sector and for media as well; whereas the work of journalists in Hungary is not threatened by physical or other attacks or atrocities - unlike in other EU countries; whereas on the Council of Europe Platform on the Safety of Journalists there have not been any reported alerts on attacks on physical safety and integrity of journalists in Hungary in the last 5 years, while there are other Western-European Member States where only in 2021 5 such alerts have been published;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – introductory part
Paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Reiterates that the concerns of Parliament related to the following issues in Hungary:Hungary have been clarified by the Hungarian Government on numerous occasions; regrets the fact that the Parliament intends to excerpt pressure on Member States for ideological reasons and as regards the handling of specific cases; underlines that political and ideological debates should not be disguised as legal debates;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – indent 1
Paragraph 1 – indent 1
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – indent 2
Paragraph 1 – indent 2
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – indent 3
Paragraph 1 – indent 3
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – indent 4
Paragraph 1 – indent 4
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – indent 5
Paragraph 1 – indent 5
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – indent 6
Paragraph 1 – indent 6
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – indent 7
Paragraph 1 – indent 7
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – indent 8
Paragraph 1 – indent 8
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – indent 9
Paragraph 1 – indent 9
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – indent 10
Paragraph 1 – indent 10
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – indent 11
Paragraph 1 – indent 11
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – indent 12
Paragraph 1 – indent 12
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes that, taken together, the facts and trends mentioned in Parliament’s resolutions represent a systemic threat to the values of Article 2 TEU and constitute a clear risk of a serious breach thereof; expresses regret that the lack of decisive EU action has contributed to turning Hungary into hybrid regime of electoral autocracy, according to the relevant indicesshow that the European mainstream is working to create a federal, supra-national EU which suppresses the independence and sovereignty of Member States and enforces a single ideology on them; whereas this results in the arbitrary use of the values enshrined in Article 2 TEU and politically motivated sanction mechanisms against Member States which disagree with this direction; underlines that this represents a systemic threat to European cooperation; expresses regret that Hungary is the target of unfounded and politically motivated attacks only because it firmly stands up for the sovereignty and independence of Member States and the original idea behind European cooperation;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Strongly regretNotes the inability of the Council to make meaningful progress in the ongoing Article 7(1) TEU procedure; urges the Council to ensure that hearings take place at a minimum once per Presidency during ongoing Article 7 TEU procedures and also address new developments affecting the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights; calls on the Council to publish comprehensive minutes after each hearing; emphasises that there is no need for unanimity in the Council either to identify a clear risk of a serious breach of Union values under Article 7(1), or to address concrete recommendations to the Member States in question and provide deadlines for the implementation of those recommendations; reiterates its call for the Council to do so, underlining that any further delay to such action would amount to a breach of the rule of law principle by the Council itself; calls on the Council to issue recommendations to Hungary as soon as possible in order to remedy the issues mentioned in its resolution of 12 September 2018 and in the present resolution, asking it to implement all the judgments and recommendations mentioned; insists that Parliament’s role and competences be duly respectedd the procedure immediately as it is nothing more but a political procedure which does not lead anywhere, but harms European cooperation;
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to make full use of the tools available to address the clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded, in particular expedited infringement procedures, applications for interim measures before the Court of Justice and actions regarding non- implementation of the Court’s judgments; recalls the importance ofnot to portray political demands that fall outside the competence of the Union as general requirements for the Rrule of Law Conditionality Regulation and welcomes the decision to trigger it in the case of Hungary, albeit after a long delay and with a limited scope; calls on the Commission to take immediate action under the regulation as regards other breaches of the rule of law; notes the risk of misuse of funds under the Recovery and Resilience Facility and reiterates its call for the Commission to refrain from approval of the Hungarian planlaw and not to use and mix sanction mechanisms against Hungary contrary to the provisions of the Treaties to pursue political goals;