Věra Jourová: We would be ready to act as soon as we can

The Commission has no doubt as to the full legality of the Budget Conditionality Regulation said Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Values and Transparency. She also says that media freedom and pluralism has never been so high on the agenda of the Commission.

What do you expect from the European Court of Justice judgment, expected in January? And how do you see the Advocate General’s Opinion? (Often, it does not really differ from the final judgment.)

The Commission has no doubt as to the full legality of the Budget Conditionality Regulation and has expressed this very clearly to the Court in the ongoing proceedings. But of course, in our Union, which is based on the rule of law, the last word belongs to the Courts. All public authorities are bound to respect Court rulings. The Commission will do so and we expect all other parties to do the same.

For now, the Opinion of the Advocate General proposes to dismiss as unfounded the actions for annulment lodged by Poland and Hungary. His position and argumentation are fully in line with the convergent positions of the defendants, the European Parliament and the Council, as well as the Commission and the ten Member States that intervened in these cases in favour of the defendants.