The Danger of a Budget Compromise

This week’s suggested compromise on the long-term EU budget and rule of law conditionality indicates that the EU institutions are still not ready to defend their core principles and values.

Christmas came early this year not only for the European Union but for backsliding regimes as well. Once again, the EU has made concessions for autocratic minded leaders to overcome a deadlock, this time on the Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) after Poland and Hungary aggressively pushed a veto for the last couple of weeks. The EU cooked up an interpretative declaration, indicating a clarification about the rule of law mechanism’s implementation, to soothe the rebels.

The declaration claims that the mechanism only applies to the new long-term EU budget; it contains judicial recourse to the European Court of Justice and mentions an emergency brake for the entire process. It provides “assurances” about how the instrument will be implemented on “objective grounds”, respecting the “equality” of member states, and clarifying the right to appeal to the European Court of Justice if a country is found guilty by Brussels of trampling over EU principles.

It appears to be a good deal for everyone: the Member States from Southern Europe can receive the recovery funds after being hit by multiple crises and Viktor Orbán can most certainly bring it home as a huge victory.