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Showdown in Brussels: Poland and Hungary block Corona aid billions – politics

The meeting of the ambassadors of the 27 EU countries was less than an hour in progress on Monday afternoon when the first reports reached the outside that heralded a new crisis in the European Union. At the meeting of the ambassadors, Hungary and Poland vetoed the future EU budget and the billion-dollar Corona fund of the European Union. With the blockade, the two Eastern European countries want to force the rest of the EU on their course on another issue: the planned financial sanctions for constitutional sinners who would hit Hungary and Poland.

The dispute over finances and the rule of law, which could soon paralyze the entire EU, is being carried out primarily on the backs of two countries: Italy and Spain. They are the main beneficiaries of the Corona Fund, which is now on the brink.

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Before the vote, Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) had once again increased her diplomatic efforts to prevent the looming voting disaster. Last Thursday she spoke with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Nevertheless, on Monday morning it was initially clear from Budapest that the ambassadors’ meeting in Brussels would by no means go smoothly. A few hours before the vote, a government spokesman in Budapest said that Hungary would veto the EU budget and the Corona reconstruction fund. The other EU members would have to change their course, demanded the spokesman.

In the event of a longer hanging party, an EU emergency budget would take effect from the beginning of 2021

In practice, the veto against the multi-annual budget for the years 2021 to 2027 with a volume of 1,074 billion euros does not mean that the EU funds on which farmers, research institutions or disadvantaged regions depend will dry up completely from the beginning of next year will. If the hanging game dragged on until the end of the year, an emergency budget would take effect, in which the existing EU budget for the current year is used as the basis for the disbursement of the funds. Things are different with the planned Corona aid fund with a volume of 750 billion euros, which Hungary and Poland are also blocking with their veto. These funds, which should be paid out from the beginning of next year, are now on hold.

The schedule for the release of Corona aid is in jeopardy

What makes the veto more difficult is that the planned schedule for the release of corona aid is now slipping. Because not only the European Parliament, but also the national parliaments in most EU countries still have to approve the financial package.

Orban and Morawiecki do not seem to care that their own countries can also benefit from the Corona aid. Budapest can expect 6.2 billion euros in grants from the Corona Fund, which will help EU countries get back on their feet economically in the face of the pandemic. In total, Hungary and Poland are to receive 35 billion euros from the Corona reconstruction fund.

In the meantime, despite the veto from Budapest and Warsaw, there are doubts that the rule of law mechanism will still be changed significantly. The mechanism negotiated between the European Parliament, the Member States and the EU Commission provides that, for the first time, countries can have their EU grants cut if they fail to comply with the rule of law, such as the independence of courts. EU proceedings are pending against Hungary and Poland for violating the rule of law.

EU funds should not seep away in dark channels

A precondition for the reduction or complete suspension of EU funds is, however, that the proven violations of the rule of law can result in disadvantages for the EU budget. This would be the case, for example, if the lack of independence of the courts leads to EU funds seeping into dark channels in the recipient countries.

The European Parliament played a key role in the compromise on the rule of law mechanism.Foto: picture alliance/dpa

If they should try to unravel the compromise negotiated under the German EU Presidency on the rule of law mechanism, Orban and Morawiecki would have to reckon with headwinds not only from the European Parliament, but also from among the member states. The Scandinavian states in particular insist that EU funds can be cut even if there are fundamental violations of the separation of powers. The Netherlands and Belgium also belong to the camp of strict rule of law conditionality.

MEP Vulture: The EU can only be an alliance of democracies

“The EU can only be an alliance of democracies that uphold the rule of law,” said the SPD MEP Jens Geier to Tagesspiegel after the vote. However, he feared that the governments of Poland and Hungary would say goodbye to it. “That would be a serious crisis for the EU as we know it today,” said Geier.

A video conference of the heads of state and government of the EU is expected to deal with the new situation on Thursday. It is expected that Merkel, EU Council Chairman Charles Michel and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will now discuss how to proceed.

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