© European parliament (audiovisual service)
– The Presidents of the European Parliament, David Sasoli, and the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen
The European Parliament has filed a lawsuit against the European Commission for failing to exercise its powers under the new mechanism for linking European funding to the rule of law.
Two weeks ago MEPs have asked President David Sasoli to decide whether to file a lawsuit before November 2.
The European Parliament is dissatisfied that 10 months after the entry into force of the regulation, which allows the European Commission to propose the withdrawal or suspension of EU funds in the event of clear violations of the rule of law, it has not been activated.
MEPs do not accept the arguments of Ursula von der Leyen’s team that the decision of the European Court of Justice on the appeals of Poland and Hungary against the regulation should be awaited. The two countries have asked top EU magistrates to rule on whether the new instrument runs counter to the Lisbon Treaty by allowing a political body such as the EU Council, which meets member states’ governments, to assess whether legality is being respected in one country. Poland and Hungary believe that only the court can do that.
In December 2020, European leaders decided to allow the governments of Viktor Orban and Mateusz Morawiecki to seek interpretation in exchange for their refusals to veto the European budget until 2027 and the EU’s coronavirus pandemic recovery program.
“As requested in parliamentary resolutions, our Legal Service has brought an action against the European Commission for non-application of the Regulation on the conditionality of the Union budget on conditionality before the European Court of Justice,” said President Sassoli.
“We expect the European Commission to act consistently and to implement what President von der Leyen said during our last plenary discussion on this issue. Words must become deeds,” he added.
In a speech to parliament in September, Von der Leyen promised the Commission would send the first notifications to suspected countries in the autumn. She said the institution had been collecting signals of possible deviations since January and assured that “no case will be lost”.
According to experts, the chances of MPs to condemn the Commission are not great.
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