How the European Union failed to uphold ‘rule of law’ among its members

MEPs threaten to block coronavirus recovery package over decline in democracy across member states

Viktor Orban
MEPs threaten to block coronavirus recovery package over decline in democracy across member states
(Image credit: Laszlo Balogh/Getty Images)

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have said they will refuse to rubber stamp the European Union’s budget and coronavirus recovery package due to concerns over spending and the health of democracy among member states.

A total of 465 MEPs voted for a resolution that could withhold backing for the deal. The resolution says that MEPs “do not accept” the terms of the EU's budget and recovery kacage and criticises the cuts to health, research and climate research, adding that the group “strongly regrets” weakened efforts to tie EU funding to the rule of law.

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Joe Evans is the world news editor at TheWeek.co.uk. He joined the team in 2019 and held roles including deputy news editor and acting news editor before moving into his current position in early 2021. He is a regular panellist on The Week Unwrapped podcast, discussing politics and foreign affairs. 

Before joining The Week, he worked as a freelance journalist covering the UK and Ireland for German newspapers and magazines. A series of features on Brexit and the Irish border got him nominated for the Hostwriter Prize in 2019. Prior to settling down in London, he lived and worked in Cambodia, where he ran communications for a non-governmental organisation and worked as a journalist covering Southeast Asia. He has a master’s degree in journalism from City, University of London, and before that studied English Literature at the University of Manchester.