EU legal adviser says billions in funding for Hungary were wrongly released
EU legal adviser says billions in funding for Hungary were wrongly released
EU legal adviser says billions in funding for Hungary were wrongly released
The advocate general for European Union’s highest court on Thursday urged the court to annul a 2023 European Commission decision to release billions in funding to Hungary that had been suspended over rule-of-law and corruption concerns.
The European Commission in 2022 suspended the money to Budapest over what it said was democratic backsliding by Hungary’s right-wing populist government and failures to tackle corruption and ensure judicial independence. A year later, the Commission found that the government had carried out sufficient reforms to have around 10.2 billion euros ($12.1 billion) released.
But in a non-binding opinion on Thursday, Advocate General Tamara Ćapeta urged the European Court of Justice to annul the decision that unfroze the funds, arguing that Hungary had not carried out the required judicial reforms by the time they were released.
While not legally binding, such opinions are often followed by the court.
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