EU votes to freeze funds for ‘corrupt’ member states

The European Parliament has backed plans to freeze funding to corrupt EU member states that undermine the rule of law and are found to be eroding democratic values.

“In a move that could raise tensions with the governments in Hungary and Poland, which are accused of weakening judicial independence,” The Guardian says the plan “could lead to a fierce battle between national governments when they discuss the bloc’s €1tn post-Brexit budget later this year”.

MEPs voted by 397 to 158 for the draft law which would give the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, power to cut funds to states where there are “generalised deficiencies as regards the rule of law”.

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Independent experts appointed by national parliaments and the European Parliament would work with the Commission to assess member countries’ compliance.

Poland’s right-wing PiS government has put the country “on a collision course with the EU over a string of controversial judicial reforms”, says Euractiv News.

Meanwhile, Hungary’s government led by Viktor Orban has faced censure from the European Parliament for its increasingly authoritarian policies.

In its highly influential review of global rights, Human Rights Watch praised the EU for its response to Orban’s rule after it voted to launch a process that could end with political sanctions under Article 7 of the EU Treaty.

But while Brussels has pursued existing avenues to tackle corrupt member states, these are often cumbersome and slow.

“Creating a link between the rule of law and EU funds would have a big impact on some national budgets, especially in central and eastern Europe, where European money makes up a large proportion of infrastructure spending,” says the Guardian.

Public funds make up over half of all public investment in Poland and Hungary.

The draft proposal is tied to agreement on the EU’s next €1 trillion budget, which covers funding and expenditure from 2021 to 2028, and must be approved by all EU member states.

Germany, France and other EU countries have pushed for using the bloc's budget to bring wayward countries into line, “but Warsaw and Budapest could each veto steps that would see them denied EU voting rights,” says France 24.

In a sign of the trouble ahead, far-right nationalist leaders in Hungary, Italy and Poland this month proposed setting up a new anti-immigration “axis” to take control of the EU at the upcoming European Parliamentary elections.