The government of Hungary condemned an EU Commission move in a resolution

HUNGARY - In Brief 12 Sep 2021 by Istvan Racz

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In a largely symbolic but still important gesture, the government cabinet has just issued a resolution to protest the fact that the EU Commission recently (on September 8) asked the European Court to approve a financial penalty for Poland, for not complying with a late-July EU Court decision, according to which a disciplinary body to supervise Polish court judges must be eliminated, for the threat of it being used to interfere with judicial independence. According to EU Commissioner Reynders, they are asking the EU Court for authorisation to impose an EUR 1 million penalty per day until Poland eventually complies with the foregoing court decision.The important point here is not so much Hungary's gesture but the underlying issue itself. The issue here is a new attempt by the EU Commission to use its growing mandate on rule-of-law issues, which necessarily means a threat for Hungary's government as well, and so the latter's protestation appears just natural. Crucially, the Commission's request has not been made on the basis of the new rule-of-law mechanism, on the legality of which the European Court is still expected to issue a ruling. Yet it is closely related to a rule-of-law issue, as a newly initiated practice based on an existing and frequently used legal procedure. And it is this latter aspect that makes the Commission's initiative dangerous for the Hungarian government, as a potential precedent that could be used against Hungary as well at any time in the future.To be fair, Poland has in fact promised to eliminate the contentious disciplinary body. But the EU Commission said that they cannot see it happening: the debated institution is still carrying out some of ...