Posted on 09/18/2024 3:18:31 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Budapest will soon be deprived of a share of its EU funds for refusing to pay the fine imposed by the European Court of Justice.
The European Commission has triggered a special procedure to deduct the €200 million fine that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has imposed on Hungary over the country's long-standing restrictions on the right to asylum.
The fine has to be paid as a lump sum to the European Commission.
Budapest missed the first deadline in late August, prompting the executive to send a second payment request with a deadline of 17 September.
Since this second request was also ignored, the Commission said on Wednesday it would activate the so-called "offsetting procedure" to subtract the €200 million fine from Hungary's allocated share of the EU budget.
The mechanism will look into various financial envelopes expected to be disbursed to Hungary in the coming weeks. Around €21 billion of cohesion and recovery funds earmarked for Hungary remain frozen due to rule-of-law decline.
"We're moving to the 'offsetting' phase as of today," a Commission spokesperson said on Wednesday. "In theory, any payments can be looked at, nothing is excluded, but obviously this will take a bit of time, we need to identify what's coming up and identity payments that can absorb the fine concerned."
In parallel, Hungary is facing a €1 million fine for each day it continues disregarding the ECJ ruling and maintains the restrictions on asylum rights, which the court had described as an "unprecedented and exceptionally serious breach of EU law."
Budapest has to explain what measures, if any, it has introduced to abide by the judgment. As the country did not answer the Commission's questions in time, the executive has sent the first payment request to collect the accumulated fine.
The request covers €93 million and has a 45-day deadline.
Since the ECJ issued its ruling in June, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has ratcheted up his anti-EU rhetoric, calling the fine "outrageous and acceptable" and arguing that his country should be paid €2 billion for defending its borders since 2015.
The Commission does not recognise this figure as refundable in any way.
"We should not be punished but our achievements should be recognised and money should not be taken away from us but given to us so that we can continue this work," Orbán said in a recent radio interview. "It is a matter of time."
As retaliation, his government has threatened to bus migrants to Belgium "voluntarily" and "free of charge," something that would constitute an unprecedented case of instrumentalised migration by one member state against another.
No transfers of migrants have yet taken place but the scheme has already been met with fierce criticism from Belgian and EU authorities.
The dispute, a new chapter in the decade-long Brussels-Budapest showdown, is being compounded by growing concerns over Hungary's decision to extend its National Card scheme to Russian and Belarusian citizens, which the Commission warns could enable sanctions circumvention and pose a threat to the "entire" Schengen Area.
Budapest has strongly denied any risks to internal security, saying the extension to Russian and Belarusian citizens was needed to palliate labour shortages inside the country and give employers an "easier procedure" to attract foreign workers.
Despite the tension, there was a hint of rapprochement this week after János Bóka, Hungary's minister for European affairs, met with Ylva Johansson, European Commissioner for Home Affairs to discuss both the ECJ ruling and the National Card.
The Commission did not immediately provide a read-out of the meeting.
Would staying in the EU prevent it from joining BRICS?
The EU is a colossal CF.
This is totally political.
And if Hungary falls apart economically because of this they’ll have to pump it with money like they did Greece and Italy and Spain.
Completely nonsensical.
So Hungary’s being fined......Yet Germany just closed its borders.
So, when does Germany get fined by the EU?
I lived in England during the best period of the EEC. It was great for the Europe and the UK as it increased trade and the free flow between the nations. It was an outstanding success. The member nations benefited greatly. As with all bureaucracies it started to try and micro manage the affairs of its members and literally taking control of members borders and internal processes. Free trade and travel was great. When the EU started meddling in the affairs of each individual state it started the process of its disintegration. The EEC pissed off the people! The UK was first to leave the EEC. I suspect Hungary is second. The Nordic nations and the Netherlands are rebelling against the rules on immigration.
The EEC was about an economic union but not internal control of individual nations. The EEC had a good thing going and screwed it up.
I think the U.S. should go bankrupt and then join BRICS to get more credit.
Screw the EU.
EUnuchs.
Exactly.
Difference is that Germany runs the EU and Hungary does not.
Hungary and Turkey should both be offered the opportunity to leave the EU and NATO. That way they can both join the BRICS and become members of the “New Warsaw Pact.”
I beg to differ. If the EEC forces Hungary to accept more immigrants from third world nations they will eventually say, "the hell with the EEC." Hungary knows what has happened in Germany and other nations due to unchecked immigration! Hungary does not want the same.
A religious sect that will not integrate into the local culture of a nation is not an asset. It is a problem. I lived in the UK for several years. The Hindus from India integrated into British society and became an asset. Oddly they retained much of their original culture that was not at odds with English society and norms. The Muslims from Pakistan did not with rare exceptions. Oddly, genetically the Muslims and Hindus were very much the same. It is all about religion!
France got the lions share of farm funding in 3 of 5 first years; it did seem like it would survive long enough to be worthwhile for the majority of welfare states. I was in The Netherlands, the Brussels the first four years.
BRICS is a Chinese Communist Party scam to steal everyone’s lunch , China is run by Yogi Bear
I find it rather funny that Brussels (EU Commission) is demanding fines from Hungary, but that Belgium itself has not, for at least the past 10 years, budgeted the 2% defense expenditures that NATO’s guideline established in 2006. Hungary has consistently budgeted far more than Belgium every year these past 10 years, and in 2023, Hungary budgeted 2.83% of their GDP for their own defense, more than even required. As of 2023, only 35% of NATO members met the 2% guideline. The rest are moochers.
Hungary made the pagers/radios so they should get a bonus
SOMEHOW, I AM THINKING THAT THAT FINE WILL BE CHEAPER THAN UNLIMITED INVADERS
More fake news by the MSM, they're reporting that the pagers were made in China/Taiwan. Nope, they were made under license from the Chinese company based in Taiwan, and manufactured in Europe (Hungary).
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán should be congratulated for kicking illegal alien Muslims out of Hungary. Instead, he is attacked for it. He reduced illegal alien Muslims by 99% from invading Hungary. Says a border protects your citizens, and those coming across illegally are criminals and should be treated as such. If only we had a leader like that!
Dear Leftists: “Do you have any assylees living in your spare bedroom? WHY THE HELL NOT, YOU RACIST SELFISH SCUMBAGS!!!
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