This week, Renew Europe 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: Renew Europe is now repeating their demand for the immediate application of the Rule of Law conditionality regulation, a core achievement and priority of the Group. Time is up for those who profit from EU taxpayer money while rejecting the values upon which the European Union was founded.

Katalin Cseh MEP (Momentum, HU), Vice-President of Renew Europe and Renew Europe shadow rapporteur on this file in the European Parliament 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 (FDP, DE), Renew Europe shadow rapporteur on this file in the European Parliament Committee on Budgets said:

"The Advocate General's Opinion published on 6 December is good news for protecting the core and financial values of the EU. The time for excuses is now over. President Von der Leyen must finally allow the rule of law mechanism to be applied".

#RuleofLaw: "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", says @katka_cseh. pic.twitter.com/Iz0dOD85EL

— Renew Europe (@RenewEurope) December 2, 2021

Photo credit: Brigitte Hase and Michel Christen, European Parliament 2021.