Time’s up: Von der Leyen must apply the Rule of Law conditionality regulation

Renew Europe has today welcomed the opinion of the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice, which proposes that the Court should dismiss the actions for annulment of the Rule of Law conditionality regulation brought by Hungary and by Poland.

The European Commission is fast running out of excuses: we again repeat our demand for the immediate application of the Rule of Law conditionality regulation, a core achievement and priority of Renew Europe. The time is up for those who profit from EU taxpayer's money, while rejecting the values upon which our Union was founded.

Katalin Cseh, Vice-President of Renew Europe and Renew Europe’s shadow on the file in the Committee on Budgetary Control said:

"The Hungarian-Polish legal challenge against the rule of law mechanism has never been more than a stalling tactic: Viktor Orbán needed to buy time until the elections in Spring 2022. The Advocate General's opinion is a victory for the European Parliament. Now, there is no excuse left for the European Commission to apply the regulation."

Moritz Körner MEP, Renew Europe’s shadow on the file in the Committee on Budgets said:

"The Advocate General's Opinion published today is good news for protecting the core and financial values of the EU. The time for excuses is now over. Von der Leyen must finally allow the rule of law mechanism to be applied".