The European Court of Justice has ruled that the European Parliament was within its rights to have started proceedings against Hungary for rule of law violations.
The case was brought forward by the Hungarian government nearly three years ago after MEPs voted to trigger for the first time a procedure known as Article 7 in September 2018, which is used to determine whether a member state has breached the bloc’s founding values.
Budapest argues that the vote in the Parliament should not have been counted due to abstentions by some MEPs not being factored into the two-thirds majority needed for the vote to pass.
Hungary
Today, the European Court of Justice has just issued its judgment in the Case C-650/18 Hungary v Parliament, which confirms that the Parliament was within its right to have initiated proceedings against Hungary for the situation regarding the rule of law. The ruling comes after the government of Hungary decided to challenge the European Parliament vote of September 2018 that initiated the Article 7(1) proceedings.
The original Parliament report, written by former Greens/EFA MEP Judith Sargentini, saw the launch of the Article 7 procedure, in a first for the European Parliament. The General Affairs Council is due to discuss the on-going Article 7 procedures against Hungary and Poland on June 22nd for the first time since December 2019.
The first meeting of European Union “Ministers for the Future” and the launch of the EU-wide Foresight Network were two of the high points of the informal …
Facing pressure from EU members, the Bulgarian ambassador to the EU explained on Tuesday (11 May) to the EU ministers his country’s decision to veto the start of neighbouring North Macedonia’s accession negotiations.
Dimitar Tzantchev represented Bulgaria at the General Affairs Council, the EU27 ministerial format which decides EU enlargement-related issues, while on the same day President Rumen Radev appointed a caretaker Bulgarian government before snap elections on 11 July.
Bulgaria vetoed the decision to open EU membership talks with North Macedonia last November, a move which indirectly also affected Albania, another Western Balkans candidate which has advanced on its EU path in tandem with Skopje.
Wednesday, 12 May 2021, 15:19
EU to strengthen Ukraine s resilience to Russia s strategic challenge â Å efÄoviÄ
12.05.2021 09:38
Ukrinform
The European Union will remain united in the face of the global challenge posed by the Russian Federation, and strengthen the resilience of Ukraine and other eastern partners.
Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš ŠefÄoviÄ said this at a press conference following the General Affairs Council on May 11, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
“On Russia, I underline the importance to maintain our unity vis-a-vis this strategic challenge. We need to strengthen the resilience of Ukraine and other eastern partners, and to invest in Russian civil society and people-to-people contacts,” he said.