Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, will she trigger the procedure of suspension of European funds to Poland and Hungary, for non-respect of the rule of law, while these two countries welcome Ukrainian refugees by the hundreds of thousands?
The European Commission is waiting. “The political context has changed”, recognize several European sources which, today, have great difficulty in guessing what will be the next movement. However, there is no longer any legal or technical obstacle to prevent this mechanism from being triggered. The last milestone has been set: the European Commission published its “guidelines” on Wednesday 2 March. Thirty-nine pages explaining how it intends to apply this conditionality regime.
War or no war, MEPs are stamping their feet with impatience. They have been asking for months for the Commission to send a notification letter, which would formally launch the procedure. “We have to go nowclaims Daniel Freund, German environmentalist MEP. People are dying in Ukraine for this European perspective, for democracy. In this context, ignoring autocratic tendencies within Europe itself would be a very bad signal. » Petri Sarvamaa, MEP of the European People’s Party, who was rapporteur on this dossier, said: “The changes in world politics have shown that we need weapons once morest the oligarchy, the kleptocracy. Respect for the rule of law is more vital than ever. »
“Wait for the pressure to drop”
The Commission first waited for the Court of Justice of the European Union, seized by Poland and Hungary, to rule on the legality of this regulation of December 2020 establishing a conditionality between respect for the rule of law and payment of European funds. On February 16, the Court validated this mechanism. This judgment paved the way for the publication of the guidelines, then, possibly, the sending of a notification letter to the incriminated States. “The governments of these two states have done everything to prevent the adoption of the regulation or to weaken it. They were thus able to save fourteen months.regrets Ramona Coman, president of the Institute of European Studies of the Free University of Brussels.
Today, a political decision is expected. The context is very unstable. Member States are beginning to make their voices heard for the Commission to temper once more before brandishing the financial weapon. “Perhaps now is not the time to embark on overly punitive measures towards the countries that are on the eastern border of the EU, directly confronted with the influx of refugees. You might have to wait for the pressure to drop says an official from one of the member states of the European Union. Conversely, other states want the question of the rule of law to be dissociated from the war in Ukraine. The European Commission is responsible for initiating this procedure.
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