Is Ursula von der Leyen’s Commission complying with the law? Or did it use EU funds to buy the approval of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán? That is the subject of a hearing taking place today at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.  

The hearing is the next step in a lawsuit that I co-initiated in early 2024 and launched with broad parliamentary support. The European Parliament was responding to a decision by the European Commission in December 2023 to recognize parts of Hungary’s rule of law reforms as fulfilled. Just hours before the summit of EU heads of state and government, the Commission thus approved the payment of €10 billion in EU funds to Hungary.

The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán then withdrew its veto against the opening of Ukraine’s EU accession process. 

Daniel Freund, Member of the European Parliament for the Greens, comments:

“We will not let the Commission get away with its dirty deals with Orbán. EU funds should only be granted if the rule of law is functioning. We seriously doubt that Ursula von der Leyen respects this principle in her dealings with Hungary. 10 billion euros were released to Viktor Orbán without the necessary reforms having been implemented. Worse still, the EU Commission allowed itself to be blackmailed by Viktor Orbán. This cannot be allowed to happen in the EU. That is why we are taking legal action before the ECJ.”

What happens next:

It will be some time before we see a result. A ruling by the European Court of Justice is not expected until the coming months.