Roberta Metsola on ECJ ruling: “rule of law is non-negotiable”
The European Court of Justice upheld today the validity of the rule of law Conditionality Regulation, as it dismissed the requests by Hungary and Poland to annul it.
The ruling confirms the European Parliament’s long-standing position to protect the European Union’s budget from misuse by national governments that are in breach of the rule of law.
On this occasion, President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola said: “The European Parliament now expects the Commission to apply the conditionality mechanism swiftly. Conditionality of EU funds linked to respect of the rule of law is non-negotiable for the European Parliament.”
“The rule of law is the basis on which our Treaties are built. It is fundamental that all Member States adhere to the Treaties they all signed up to when they joined the European Union. Values matter, and citizens have the right to know how common funds are used”, underlined President Metsola.
The regulation, strongly supported by the European Parliament, was adopted in December 2020. Following parliamentary resolutions, the European Parliament submitted in October 2021 a lawsuit to the Court of Justice against the European Commission for its failure to apply the Conditionality Regulation.
Today the European Parliament’s negotiating team will hold a press conference on the ECJ ruling at 11.30, and the Parliament’s plenary session will debate the topic at 16.00.
