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Member States reached a compromise on the EU budget and the Reconstruction Fund. What are the provisions of the joint declaration?
During the joint conference after the conclusion of the negotiations on the European Union budget and the Reconstruction Fund, Mateusz Morawiecki emphasized that they are a great success for Poland and Hungary. – We have much stronger guarantees than we had two weeks ago, this is the result of negotiations – said the Polish Prime Minister. RMF FM took a closer look at what was included in the agreement. First of all, the conclusions ensure that the rule of law mechanism will be objective and fair. There is also a guarantee that the treaty competences of the Member States will not be violated. As RMF FM explains, this provision was to reassure Poland that this is not a gate that is to introduce, for example, consent to same-sex marriage.
CJEU consent required
Later in the document it was mentioned that the conditionality mechanism relates only to the protection of the EU budget against, for example, corruption fraud or conflict of interest. This, in turn, was to ensure that reporting countries that the money would not be withdrawn for political reasons. RMF FM reports that the declaration includes a provision that de facto delays the launch of the rule of law mechanism for at least two years. How is this possible? The conclusions mentioned that as long as the CJEU does not pronounce the compliance of the regulation on the rule of law, the European Commission cannot apply it. And as you know, the hearings before the Tribunal do not last several months, but much longer. According to RMF FM, Viktor Orban was particularly interested in such a solution, because elections are planned in 2022 in Hungary.
The declaration also strengthens the so-called an emergency brake, proposed in July by the head of the European Council, Charles Michel. In this case, if the European Commission wants to initiate the process of withdrawing funds from the budget from a member state, then that state will have the right to report to the head of the European Council to discuss the matter at the EU summit. The decision on this matter will still be taken by the Council, but it is a kind of political buffer intended to delay the procedures.
Success of negotiations in the EU
Negotiations on the European Union budget and the Reconstruction Fund were successful. The Member States managed to reach an agreement. This means that neither Poland nor Hungary decided to veto. “We have an agreement on the EU budget and the Reconstruction Fund. Now we can start implementing it and rebuilding our economy. This groundbreaking recovery package will accelerate the green and digital transformation, ‘said the head of the European Council Charles Michel via Twitter.