Hungary and Poland blocked the EU's fiscal package in today's preliminary vote

HUNGARY - In Brief 16 Nov 2020 by Istvan Racz

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EU member states' ambassadors to Brussels met today to hold a preliminary vote on the €1100 bn common budget framework for 2021-2027, the €750 bn recovery package and the conditionality mechanism (the rule-of-law mechanism) attached to both of the former proposals. Of the 27 member states, 25 voted in favour, but Hungary and Poland voted against all three proposals, on the grounds that they find the conditionality mechanism unacceptable. Regarding the two elements of the fiscal package, a unanimous vote would have been required for the proposals - this time already specific legal documents - to go through, so the contrary votes cast by Hungary and Poland effectively mean a veto. The rule-of-law mechanism, the real debated issue, went through with qualified majority, but this will not satisfy any of the parties involved, as the EU now badly needs an urgent positive conclusion on the fiscal package.Today's vote was preliminary and indicative only. A legal vote was scheduled to take place at a meeting by member states' ministers for EU affairs tomorrow, but given today's voting result, it may be pointless to vote tomorrow. It will be up to the EU's main decision-makers to find a compromise with the objecting two member governments. The next official round of the European Council at the top level will be held on Thursday. The original agenda of that meeting was a discussion of Covid policies, but the fiscal package may be brought up there as well.It would not be unprecedented at all for the key decision-makers to dilute the conditionality proposal to the point where it becomes acceptable for the objecting member states as well. But this time around, the problem is that the...