Zum bevorstehenden Urteil des Europäischen Gerichtshofs zur Klage Polens und Ungarns gegen den Rechtsstaatsmechanismus möchte ich Sie hiermit zum Pressebriefing am kommenden Dienstag einladen. Das Briefing findet auf Englisch statt, es gibt aber auch die Möglichkeit Fragen auf Deutsch zu stellen.

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On February 16th, the European Court of Justice will rule on the Polish and Hungarian action against the rule of law conditionality mechanism – tying the payment of EU funds to the respect of the rule of law in EU member states. With a ruling in favor of the mechanism the self-imposed justification for inactivity of the EU-Commission would come to an end. On this occasion we would like to invite you to our briefing together with rule of law experts from Poland and Hungary:

When & Where?

Tuesday, 15th of February, 14h00 (ca. 45mns), Zoom,

Who?

• Daniel Freund, Greens/EFA MEP
• Marta Pardavi, Hungarian Helsinki Committee
• Jakub Jaraczewski, Democracy Reporting International

Questions to be addressed (among others):

• Will the EU-Commission trigger the rule of law mechanism in the aftermath of the ruling against Poland and/or Hungary? If not, what action could be taken by the European Parliament and the Member States?
• What does the procedure of the mechanism look like? When could first suspensions be imposed, technically AND realistically?
• What effects would financial sanctions procedures have on the political situation in Hungary and Poland in light of the upcoming elections in Hungary and the Ukraine crisis?
• How precisely could sanctions be targeted at rule of law violators?
• What can be expected of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal hearing a domestic case against the rule of law conditionality mechanism on the same day?
• What actions are to be expected by the governments of Poland and Hungary to fight the possibility of sanctions?
• How can it be ensured in practice that citizens in Poland and Hungary understand the reasons for the rule of law mechanism and what it entails?   

Marta Pardavi (@martapardavi) is co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (@hhc_helsinki), a leading human rights NGO in Hungary that also works to protect the rule of law. She is also involved in Recharging Advocacy for Rights in Europe (@RechargeRARE), a capacity- and alliance-building programme for human rights defenders in the EU.

Jakub Jaraczewski (@J_Jaraczewski) is Research Coordinator at Democracy Reporting International (@DemocracyR), a Berlin-based NGO. Jakub works on the rule of law in the EU as part of the re:constitution programme (@reconstitutEU) funded by Stiftung Mercator (@MercatorDE).