EP group leaders and the Commission advise Hungary and Poland to take the EU to Court on rule of law, instead of penalising EU citizens by blocking the budget.
In the debate on the European summit of
10-11 December, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen updated MEPs
on progress made in Brexit negotiations and on COVID-19. Vaccinations
can start before the end of the year if member states get the logistics
in place quickly, she said.
She also called on the Polish and
Hungarian governments to stop withholding much-needed recovery funds
from EU citizens; they can turn to the European Court of Justice if they
contest Rule of Law conditionality being in line with the Treaties, she
said. Finally, she pointed to the climate crisis “rumbling on”, urging
member states to agree on ambitious carbon reduction targets. She also
announced that the Commission will table a new agenda on the fight
against terrorism on 9 December.
COVID-19 vaccines and the recovery budget
All political group leaders
urged the European Council to agree on the long-term budget and thus
allow EU funds to alleviate the economic crisis. ECR and ID group
speakers considered the veto by the Hungarian and Polish governments to
be legitimate, while all other group speakers called for the deadlock to
be broken without giving in on rule of law principles. “No
horse-trading”, said the S&D group leader, echoed by her EPP
counterpart: “Take the EU to the court, but lift the irresponsible
veto”. COVID-19 vaccines are proof that the EU is able to achieve quick
progress when all parties and member states work as a team. The same
should be true for the recovery, most insisted.
Decisive EU summit on EU/UK deal, climate action, Turkey
On the future EU-UK partnership, many
pointed out that Parliament needs time to look into the details of any
deal before giving its consent. If necessary, Parliament could meet at
the end of December, said the GUE/NGL speaker. Both Greens and Renew
Europe chairs stressed that European leaders need to act decisively on
the climate now, while the EPP insisted that there must be consequences
for Turkey’s long list of breaches of international law and sanctions
must be considered.
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