EU threatens action

Action in Budapest causes concern in Brussels.

Hungary may face legal action and a freeze on emergency funding if its new constitution breaches European treaties, the European Commission has said.

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Yesterday (4 January), the Commission said it would decide in a matter of days whether to make a legal challenge. The uncertainty last week prompted the Commission and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to break off preliminary negotiations on a bail-out for the country.

The constitution revises 30 laws. All 30 are being studied, the Commission said. Three commissioners have become personally involved.

A Commission spokesman said that José Manuel Barroso, the president of the Commision, “exchanged many letters during the Christmas holidays and last week” with Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s prime minister. In one, sent on 28 December, Barroso stated that the Commission is prepared to initiate infringement actions against Hungary if the constitution breaches treaty provisions.

Viviane Reding, the European commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, also wrote to the Hungarian government on 12 December “spelling out her doubts” over some laws. Reding’s concerns focus on the abolition of the post of data-protection supervisor and on laws that could compromise the independence of judges.

A third commissioner, Olli Rehn, whose remit is economic and monetary affairs, wants a legal assessment of whether the constitution curbs the independence of the national bank. It was anxiety about the central-bank law that prompted the Commission and the IMF to suspend talks on fresh financial support for Hungary.