The European Court of Auditors sees significant shortcomings in the EU Commission’s work to protect the rule of law in the European Union. This is the result of an audit report published today in which the Court of Auditors analyzed the use of the rule of law mechanism – i.e. the linking of EU funds to compliance with EU values. The instrument has so far only been used against Hungary. Based on internal documents and interviews with Commission officials, the Court of Auditors concludes that it remains unclear whether the Commission based its actions on facts or was guided by political motives.

Key points of criticism by the auditors:

• Insufficient monitoring of whether rule of law reforms are actually being implemented in the Member States concerned
• Insufficient staff in the EU Commission to protect the rule of law
• Incomprehensible decision-making processes regarding the amount of frozen EU funds to affected member states with rule of law deficiencies

Daniel Freund, the Greens’ negotiator for the rule of law mechanism, comments:

“The auditors’ verdict on the EU Commission’s protection of the rule of law is devastating. The Commission deploys an insufficient number of staff and is too clearly guided by political considerations. It is unacceptable that Ursula von der Leyen uses the most important instrument for protecting democracy in the EU only half-heartedly. The rule of law mechanism must not only be used against authoritarian governments, it is clearly a preventative tool. The EU Commission must – especially in the case of Hungary – consistently freeze EU funds and demand real reforms from Budapest. Orban’s pseudo reforms and lip service must not lead to the release of frozen funds.”

You can find the full report under this link:

https://www.eca.europa.eu/ECAPublications/SR-2024-03/SR-2024-03_EN.pdf