The European Commission recommends withdrawing 7.5 billion euros from Hungary

Johannes Hahn, the EU commissioner responsible for the budget, announced on Sunday: the committee recommends to the council bringing together the governments of the member states to suspend 65 percent of the funds for the three parts of the Hungarian cohesion program, about 7.5 billion euros.

The council now has one month to decide by qualified majority on the adoption of the measures proposed by the committee. In exceptional circumstances, this period can be extended by a maximum of two additional months. According to the board's press release, Hungary undertook to fully inform the committee on the completion of key implementation steps by November 19.

The EU commissioner said: the committee made a unanimous decision on the next step in the rule of law procedure related to Hungary. "This is the first case aimed at protecting the financial interests of the Union," he declared. "Today's decision clearly proves that the committee is determined to protect the EU budget and that we will use all the means at our disposal for this important goal," he added.

Commissioner Hahn explained: the committee's decision is based on the intensive dialogue between the board and the Hungarian authorities in recent months, as a result of which Hungary proposed a number of corrective measures to remedy the committee's concerns identified at the official start of the process. The committee carefully evaluated the Hungarian response, especially examining whether the corrective measures properly address the panel's original findings. In order for the measures to be considered appropriate, the violation of the principles of the rule of law and/or the risks to the EU's financial interests and the EU budget must be eliminated.

The committee concluded that the proposed remedial measures could, in principle, address the issues at hand if they were properly detailed in the relevant laws and regulations and implemented accordingly.

However, pending the completion of key implementation steps, the committee believes that risks to the budget remain at this stage. "This explains today's decision and the proposed measures, which also take into account the corrective measures submitted by Hungary," declared Johannes Hahn. "The risk to the budget remains at this stage, so we cannot conclude that the EU budget is protected," he added.

ECOFIN, a council formation that brings together the economic and finance ministers of the EU member states, is called upon to decide on the commission's proposal by majority vote. "Until then, the committee is monitoring the situation and will keep the council informed of all relevant elements that may affect its current assessment," reads the committee's press release.

Source: MTI