European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso said yesterday he would do everything in his power to get Hungary to abide by EU laws, amid arm wrestling with Budapest over its new constitution.
The new constitution, undermines the independence of key state institutions
But European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi expressed serious worries over the independence of Hungary’s own central bank under the controversial new legislation.
“We’ll use all our powers to make sure that Hungary complies with the rules of the EU,” Mr Barroso told a news conference in Copenhagen marking the start of Denmark’s European Union presidency.
Mr Barroso said he was encouraged by signs that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s conservative government was ready to discuss the most contentious points.
But the 47-member Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, Thomas Hammarberg, said that Budapest had adopted major changes without consideration of crucial rights principles.
Mr Orban’s detractors say the new constitution, which came into force on January 1, undermines the independence of key state institutions while altering the electoral system in his party’s favour and curbing press freedoms.
Mr Barroso’s comments came a day after the European Commission threatened to drag Budapest to court unless it amends legislation seen as threatening the independence of the central bank, judiciary and data protection authority.
Official warning letters on those three areas would be ready to be sent if necessary next week, according to an EU source, and if Hungary fails to abide it will be brought before the European Court of Justice.
Ensuring the central bank’s independence is a condition if cash-strapped Hungary wants to resume negotiations with the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for credit of up to €20 billion.
“Frankly, I have to say that we are really very concerned,” Mr Draghi told reporters after the ECB’s monthly rate-setting meeting in Frankfurt.
“We are really very concerned because the ECB is extremely careful... about signs of pressure being put by the decision-making bodies of any (European Union) member state on their NCBs (national central banks),” he added.
“I think these pressures are inconsistent with the spirit of the treaty.”