The EU court ordered Hungary to pay a fine of 200 million euros for violating EU immigration policy.

The Court of Justice of the European Union has ordered Hungary to pay 200 million euros (about 80 billion forints) because it "does not respect" EU legislation, among other things in the area of ​​procedures for granting international protection and the return of citizens of non-EU countries illegally staying.

Furthermore, in its judgment announced on Thursday, the Luxembourg-based court of the European Union

obliged Hungary to pay a coercive fine of one million euros for each day of delay in complying with the regulations, as it failed to comply with the court's ruling in December 2020 regarding violations of the provisions of the Reception Conditions Directive and the Return Directive.

They reminded: the said judgment referred to the restriction of access to the procedure for international protection, the illegal detention of those seeking protection in transit zones, the deportation of those staying illegally, and the violation of the right of asylum seekers to remain in Hungary until the appeal against the rejection of their application is decided.

Since the European Commission considered that Hungary still did not comply with the provisions of the 2020 judgment - with the exception of the transit zones that Hungary closed before the judgment was announced - in November 2021, the European Commission submitted a claim for the determination of another breach of obligations, also requesting the imposition of financial sanctions .

In its judgment announced on Thursday, the EU court stated above all that Hungary did not take the necessary measures to fulfill the provisions of the 2020 judgment.

It was emphasized that Hungary "in violation of the principle of loyal cooperation deliberately excludes itself from the application of the common EU policy on international protection as a whole, as well as the rules on the deportation of citizens of non-EU countries staying illegally in the EU".

According to the court's findings, this behavior "significantly threatens the uniformity of EU law, which extremely seriously affects both private interests - including the interests of asylum seekers - and the public interest".

According to the judges, Hungary's breach of obligations, which transfers to the other member states the responsibility for ensuring the reception of applicants for international protection in accordance with EU law, the assessment of their applications, and the return of citizens of non-EU countries illegally residing in the EU territory, seriously violates the principle of solidarity and the fair distribution of responsibility between member states.

Since the EU court ruled that this breach of obligation is an "unprecedented and extremely serious violation" of EU law, it ordered Hungary to pay a coercive fine of 200 million euros and one million euros for each day of delay.

The European Commission previously announced: they insist on the mandatory distribution of migrants, meaning that countries that do not accept immigrants must pay. 

According to Frontex data, more than 275,000 migrants arrived in Europe last year. However, this number could be much higher, since a significant number of migrants do not register. According to experts, Europe can count on 1 million illegal immigrants this year.

Gergely Gulyás called the migration and asylum pact unenforceable on April 11, when the European Parliament adopted it.

"We reject the fact that money should be paid to Hungary for (...), that Hungary should pay any kind of penalty for not accepting migrants. This decision is unenforceable in this form," declared the minister in charge of the Prime Minister's Office.

The Hungarian government has firmly stood by its position ever since. On the other hand, the vice-president of the European Commission believes that the pact is already effective, at least this is what Margaritisz Szkinász said on Wednesday when he presented the implementation plan for the rule.

This includes the tasks that the European Commission and the Member States must carry out in order to be able to implement, for example, the distribution and accommodation of migrants.

MTI
Híradó.hu

Cover image: The seat of the Court of Justice of the European Union
Source: Wikipedia/By Luxofluxo