Instead of attacking Poland and Hungary, the European Union’s institutions should deal with their own breaches of the community’s rules, Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) MEP Roman Haider wrote in a Facebook post.
“Instead of denouncing Poland and Hungary, the EU should deal with its own breaches of law!” Haider wrote in an image post.
Hungary and Poland have come under intense pressure over the years regarding rule-of-law issues, but more recently the European Union has threatened to cut of EU funding over the issue in what would represent a dramatic escalation in the conflict. Recently, outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged dialogue with Hungary and Poland over the issue, but left-wing political forces in Brussels are focused on punishing the two conservative countries.
“Hardly a week goes by during plenary sessions where the EU does not denounce the alleged violations of the rule of law and fundamental rights in Poland and Hungary,” the Austrian MEP went on to write, adding, “This is mainly because both countries are governed by right-wing parties, which doesn’t happen to fit the left-wing agenda of the EU. Those who preach diversity, but cannot tolerate it themselves, have no credibility.”
The European Parliament has been particularly aggressive on the rule-of-law issue, with the European body threatening to sue the European Commission if it does not cut EU funding to Hungary and Poland. The European Commission has signaled that it was awaiting a ruling from the European Court of Justice before moving ahead with a sanctions mechanism. On a number of issues, such as judicial reform, critics have pointed out that Spain’s judicial system is very similar to Poland’s, yet due to Spain’s left-wing government, the EU has looked the other way.
However, critics such as MEP Halder, are concerned that EU institutions are increasingly taking on capacities that go beyond the European treaties, in what amounts of an incremental power grab.
“Instead of constantly denouncing alleged violations of the rule of law in Poland and Hungary, the EU Parliament would be well advised to address the breaches of various decision-makers at European level. ESM, EFSM, bailout, debt union, Eurobonds, reconstruction funds, EU taxes…all of these and many more are violations of several EU treaties. The EU institutions are constantly breaking their own rules,” wrote Halder.
