The European Parliament sued the European Commission this Friday before the Court of Justice of the EU for not applying the mechanism that conditions the payment of European funds on compliance with a regulation on the rule of law by member countries.
"As demanded by the parliamentary resolutions, our legal services presented today before the Court of Justice an appeal against the European Commission for non-application of the regulation on conditionality"David Sassoli said in a statement.
"We expect the European Commission to act consistently and to show itself up to what the president [de esa institución] Ursula von der Leyen testified during our last conversation on that topic in plenary. Words must be translated into deeds"explained the President of Parliament.
"We will not let our common values be jeopardized. The Commission will act", Ursula von der Leyen had stated in front of the MEPs meeting in Strasbourg during a debate with the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, who had come to justify a decision of the Polish Constitutional Court that contradicted the primacy of European law.
"The regulation on conditionality adopted last December allows the EU to suspend payments from the EU budget to Member States where the rule of law is threatened, but the Commission has refrained from using it so far"David Sassoli insisted.
The regulation came into force in January 2021.
Two countries are in the sights of Brussels: Poland, criticized for its reforms – which according to the EU would undermine the independence of judges – and Hungary, for a lack of transparency in the concession of public markets, its insufficient fight against the corruption and a lack of independence of justice.
Both Poland and Hungary have challenged the legality of this regulation and appealed to the EU Court of Justice to invalidate it. But a decision on this is not expected before late 2021 or early 2022.
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