The representatives are unable to understand that what goes is what goes. Hungary too.
The European Parliament (EP) is filing a lawsuit against the European Commission (EC) because the latter canceled the 10.2 billion worth of EU funds for Hungary at the end of last year.
The European Court of Justice previously defended itself by saying that, according to them, everything was legitimate and regular regarding the release of the funds, after Hungary fulfilled the necessary conditions.
However, the EP fulfilled its earlier threat on Thursday, and it became final that the body would file a lawsuit against the EC.
According to Euronews, EP President Roberta Metsola approved the move at a meeting with the leaders of the parliamentary factions on Thursday. This was also necessary because Metsola has the final authority to initiate legal proceedings against other institutions before the European Court of Justice.
Once approved, Metsola has until March 25 to submit the lawsuit to the court, which could increase the pressure on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ahead of the upcoming elections (after which the Commission President wants to serve a second term at the head of the EC).
It is interesting that even Ursula von der Leyen's party family, the European People's Party (EPP), did not oppose the initiation of the lawsuit: they only issued a statement in which they made not the EC president himself, but the entire board of commissioners responsible for the release of the funds. "We want to be sure that taxpayers' money was handled in accordance with the Basic Treaties. This is not a political issue for the EPP, it is not an election issue - we just want legal clarity," said EPP representative Petri Sarvamaa.
In the meantime, the unlocked EU funds are continuously arriving in Hungary, week after week - as Finance Minister Mihály Varga recently spoke about.
Cover image: The European Parliament sued the European Commission
Source: MTI/EPA/Julien Warnand
