Corruption and campaigns against media and judges: Brussels rejects Orban's Hungary

Corruption and campaigns against media and judges: Brussels rejects Orban’s Hungary

The picture of the rule of law in Europe has remained relatively similar to last year, with Viktor Orbán’s Hungary continuing to be at the bottom of the list in terms of corruption, media freedom and government capture of the state apparatus. Poland, after the years in which the far-right allied with Giorgia Meloni was in power, has recovered a few positions and has been rewarded by the Commission.

The EU executive presented today (24 July) its fifth report on the rule of law in the Union, presented to journalists by Transparency and Values ​​Commissioner Vera Jourová and Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders. It is the final product of an annual work cycle through which the EU executive examines the situation in Member States, assesses progress made and offers recommendations on what steps to take.

The pillars of the investigation were four: the health of the judicial system (especially its independence, the efficiency of its structures and the quality of its functioning), the fight against corruption, the freedom and pluralism of the media and the system of so-called institutional “checks and balances” (i.e. all the mechanisms that guarantee the division of powers).

Black jersey for Hungary

Hungary once again had the highest number of recommendations: eight. Furthermore, Budapest has not made any progress in many areas: from the fight against high-level corruption to lobbying reform, from the security of public space (including intimidation of activists and human rights defenders) to the independence of the media. And so EU funds remain blocked, since, as the report itself states, “no new measures have been taken to address outstanding issues related to the rule of law and the fight against corruption”.

Some cohesion funds had been unfrozen last year following a justice reform (which in fact counts as one of the few advances recognized in Hungary), but Brussels remains concerned about the persistent “political influence on the prosecution”, as well as “defamatory campaigns against judges by the media”.

Corruption is also doing badly: there are obstacles in the work of the new Integrity Authority and the actual impact of the Anti-Corruption Task Force remains to be seen, while the lack of investigations into allegations of high-level corruption within state apparatuses is a “serious concern” for the Berlaymont. Also unresolved are the shortcomings regarding the financing of political parties and election campaigns.

“Threats to media pluralism” also remain a problem, with journalists and independent media continuing to be targets of “apparently coordinated smear and delegitimization campaigns” sponsored more or less directly by political power, as well as “selective access to government premises and events”.

The OK in Warsaw

On the other hand, there has been a clear improvement in Poland, which arrives at this annual meeting with its first government led not by the ultra-nationalist right of PiS (allied with Fratelli d’Italia in the ranks of the European Conservatives) but by the moderate and pro-European centre-right of Donald Tusk (part of Ursula von der Leyen’s People’s Party).

The Community executive highlights in particular how “some of the effects” of the 2017 justice reform, which was the source of a long dispute with Brussels, “are being reversed”. The new Rule of Law Action Plan, implemented by the new Polish executive, aims to “address long-standing concerns about judicial independence” which concern various aspects, including the disciplinary regime of judges. Among the progress indicated by the Commission, the separation of the functions of the Ministry of Justice from those of the General Prosecutor.

However, Warsaw has not made much progress on high-level corruption and lobbying rules either. However, the situation regarding the media has improved, especially with regard to “mechanisms to improve independent governance and editorial independence of public service media”.

But the progress made by Poland was deemed sufficient by the EU to close the procedure former Article 7 launched in December 2017, which if followed through could lead to the suspension of voting rights in the Council. Hungary thus remains the only member state of the bloc to still have such a procedure in place, which many observers call “the nuclear option” due to its potential political and institutional consequences.

Dialogue with Madrid on amnesty

Referring to the controversial Spanish amnesty law granted by the government of Pedro Sánchez in exchange for the political support of independentists, Commissioner Jourová denied “speculation” about the launch of infringement proceedings against Madrid.

The Commission “has engaged with the Spanish authorities to receive clarifications, which it is analyzing,” she told reporters, stressing that “there is no deadline” for the final assessment and that the matter will take some time. “We must first see what the reaction will be from the Spanish judicial authorities but we continue to monitor the situation,” Reynders echoed.