EU Parliament reaffirms and strengthens calls to act against Hungary

The European Parliament passed a new report on Tuesday (25 November), reaffirming and expanding calls for the European Council and Commission to act against Hungary for violations of EU law.

There has been a seven-year procedural battle over whether to find Hungary in breach, with parliament opening proceedings in 2018, passing the first report in 2022, and now the second report this year — along with nine council meetings on the matter — with no tangible results.

This second report from MEPs aims to break the bottleneck.

“It saddens and worries me deeply that in this second interim report, we conclude that Hungary has continued and increased its violation of EU values. In this report, we point out a dizzying array of new, even more extreme violations, ” said Dutch MEP Tineke Strik, leading the parliament's work on Hungary, while debating the measure on Monday.

Since prime minister Viktor Orbán took office in 2010, there have been increasing concerns over Hungary's eroding democracy and fight against corruption, along with EU top courts opinions and rulings against Hungary for, among other things, anti-immigration and anti-LBGTQ policies and actions. 

The new call of the parliament hopes to put added pressure on the council, which can take more punitive measures against a member in breach — which could include stripping Hungary of its council voting rights.  

Strik concluded by calling on the council to act: “You have all the evidence of the value breaches, and with this report, you will once again have our urgent call to act.” 

MEPs believe Hungary is breaching Article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union, which defines the values on which the union is founded, including human dignity, democracy, rule of law, and non-discrimination. 

The parliament then invoked Article 7 of the same treaty, which outlines procedures if a member state breaches Article 2.  

The measure, which passed by 415 votes to 193, reiterates the numerous concerns about fair elections, fundamental rights, and corruption raised in previous reports.

It also urges the council to pass concrete recommendations and next steps — arguing that if they don’t move soon, the council might be violating the law itself.

The position also calls on the commission to use all its powers to push Hungary towards change, especially by pursuing measures that affect the nation's EU budget allocation.

The file faced parliamentary opposition from MEPs representing the two far-right groups, The Europe of Sovereign Nations Group, and Patriots for Europe, who claimed the measure was ideologically and politically motivated. 

Michael McGrath, European commissioner for democracy, spoke to MEPs on Monday and discussed the measures the commission is already taking against Hungary, including infringement procedures, freezing of EU payments, and the dire findings in the latest rule of law report. 

“On seven out of eight recommendations of the rule of law report made in 2024, there has been no progress,” said McGrath, later adding, “the commission will not hesitate to take further action if necessary.

It is now up to the council to act on the file, and for measures to pass, it would need a four-fifths majority.

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