A technical agreement on a justice reform package – which could unblock at least €13 billion of Hungary’s catch-up aid – has been reached by the Hungarian government and the European Commission, Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga announced on Monday, according to Euractiv.
The “horizontal condition” has been met, Telex.hu reported. This condition alone almost entirely blocks the payment of €22 billion in catch-up aid, and while the budget may not receive part of this amount for other reasons, the agreement would free up €13 billion.
The discussion revolved around the role and powers of the National Judicial Council (OBT), which has independent judicial oversight powers, and the independence of Hungarian Curia judges.
The Hungarian government submitted its reform proposal for social consultation in January, but the European Commission was not satisfied with it.
The proposal also includes abolishing the possibility for authorities to challenge final judgments at the Constitutional Court and removing the obstacles for Hungarian judges to refer to the EU tribunal if they view Hungarian and EU law as not being in harmony.
The EU funds are currently being withheld due to an intertwining set of conditions, including the catch-up resources distributed through the government without the deductible, the non-refundable part of the recovery fund above the “regular” EU budget, and the prohibition of any support contract for public interest trust foundations and universities transformed into foundations.
Although other factors also restrict the budget from receiving a portion of this amount, the agreement could potentially free up €13 billion, as reported by Népszava.
Technical negotiations had “progressed well as Varga and Just Commissioner Didier Reynders had a “constructive conversation” in Brussels on Monday, said Commission spokesperson Christian Wigand.
He added that the EU body will analyse the situation but not comment on ongoing processes.
The agreement still needs to be approved by the Commission’s president and the College of Commissioners, who are supposed to meet on Wednesday of this week, even though no information has been given on when they will approve it.