EU Commissioner: State of rule of law sliding in certain countries

Jourova, the EC’s Vice-President for Values and Transparency, said the state of judicial independence was “concerning” in certain countries and was deteriorating in some others.

She said corruption was also concerning in the bloc, and called for measures to strengthen the framework for the prevention of graft in connection with lobbying activities, conflicts of interest and asset declarations. The effective investigation and prosecution of corruption should also be strengthened, she said.

The country report on Hungary said the country has started implementing the 2023 judiciary reform. “The National Judicial Council is exercising its new competences to effectively counterbalance the powers of the President of the National Office for the Judiciary,” the report said.

While case allocation at Hungary’s Supreme Court, the Kuria, has become more transparent, the same in lower courts remains concerning, the report said. “The freedom of expression of judges remains under pressure and smear campaigns against judges continue in the media. The level of remuneration of judges and court staff has further deteriorated,” the report said.

Hungary has adopted a new anti-corruption strategy and legislation against lobbying and the “revolving door effect” were in planning, the report said. At the same time, “enforcement and oversight remain an issue as regards asset declarations.”

On the matter of institutional safeguards, the EC found that “the new Integrity Authority reports certain obstacles in fulfilling its oversight tasks effectively, and the impact in practice of the Anti-Corruption Task Force remains to be seen.”

While some high-profile corruption cases have reached the indictment stage, Hungary had yet to investigate corruption charges against high-ranking officials or their immediate circle, the report said.

“The suspension of commitments from EU funds under several EU programmes and the lack of disbursements following a payment request under the Recovery and Resilience Plan persist, as no new measures have been adopted to remedy the outstanding rule of law and anti-corruption issues,” the EC said.

Hungary’s government has yet to plan measures to regulate state advertising in state media, and to ensure the independence of the media authority and the editorial and financial independence of public media, it said. “Journalists and independent media outlets continue to face numerous challenges including seemingly coordinated smear and de-legitimisation campaigns, and selective access to government premises and events.”

The report also criticised “the quality of law-making and the frequent changes of legislation” in Hungary, adding that “the Constitutional Court still reviews the merits of final rulings of ordinary courts in politically sensitive cases”.

In Hungary, “obstacles affecting civil society organisations persist, while the new Protection of National Sovereignty Act further undermines civic space. Concerns related to the State’s role in financing civil society continue,” the report said.