According to Bloomberg, the European Commission (EC) may initiate infringement proceedings against Hungary this week due to the Child Protection Act.
In response to Magyar Hírlap's interest Tamás Deutsch , head of the Fidesz European Parliament delegation, drew attention to the fact that media outlets that are "extremely proud of their credibility" such as the German news agency DPA, the Brussels-based Politico and Bloomberg have published several reports in recent weeks that were quickly it turned out that they had nothing to do with reality.
He recalled that the Vice-President of the EC, Vera Jourová, said in the EP debate about Hungary that the DPA's report that the committee decided to reject the Hungarian recovery plan was not true.
According to Deutsch, reality and political hysteria are at odds in the debate about the Child Protection Act. "On one side, there are the facts, according to which the law does not have any discriminatory elements, and moreover, it falls entirely within the jurisdiction of the member states, no EU institution is competent in its case," explained the politician.
He pointed out that, meanwhile, on the other side there is the hysterical left-wing pressure, "the EP is fully armed" and the governments of a number of EU countries - "where, without exception, the left-liberal parties are the most excited, as if the Hungarian legislation is the number one problem in the world today" - , the international press, the well-known commentators.
According to Tamás Deutsch, "even the European Commission cannot completely remove itself from reality", however, based on the experience so far, when it is faced with pressure similar to the current one, the commission cannot or does not want to resist. According to the representative, there is reason to count on the mentioned notice letter, "the charade continues".
However, he also drew attention to the fact that vitriolic press statements will no longer be sufficient in the infringement proceedings, but legal arguments are needed that can stand up in court, and the accusers have not been able to present such arguments so far.
The sending of the notice letter is the first step in the infringement procedure, and the member state is usually given a two-month deadline to respond - Attila Kovács, project manager of the Fundamental Rights Center, explained to the newspaper. He said that the letter can be followed by the EC's "reasoned opinion, only then can proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union take place".
He reminded that the Union has no authority in the field of child protection, and only has supporting authority in the field of education and youth policy. According to the expert, in the ECJ's reasoning, the prohibition of disadvantageous discrimination can be considered.
the full article here.
