Ireland is to throw its support behind a case at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) seeking to penalise Hungary for a controversial new law used to target civil society organisations.
Hungary’s far right prime minister Viktor Orban has overseen a crackdown on civil society groups and independent media during his 14 years in power in the central European state, while also eroding the rights of minorities like the LGBT+ community.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU led by Ursula von der Leyen, has taken a legal challenge to the EU courts against a new “sovereignty” law introduced in Hungary. The law set up a body, the Sovereignty Protection Office, to investigate organisations operating in Hungary with the support of funding from abroad, who Mr Orban’s government claimed could be seeking to influence elections.
The sovereignty office last June opened an investigation into Transparency International Hungary, a Budapest-based branch of the international network tracking the perception of corruption in public institutions. Transparency International previously labelled Hungary the most corrupt state in the European Union two years running.
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The new law was criticised by Amnesty International and other human rights groups as a further attempt by Mr Orban’s government to clamp down on civil society in Hungary.
The commission lodged a legal challenge at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) late last year seeking to prove the sovereignty legislation breaches EU law, which would open Hungary up to significant financial fines.
In a relatively rare move the Government has indicated Ireland plans to join the ECJ case in support of the commission. Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris said there appeared to be a “significant number” of other EU states planning to formally support the commission in the legal battle.
“Ireland does not normally intervene in such infringement proceedings … Ireland has, however, consistently raised our concerns about Hungary’s sovereignty protection law and its negative impact on civil society space in Hungary,” Mr Harris said.
In a statement the Fine Gael leader said the EU commission had detailed “significant legal concerns” with the Hungarian law. “These concerns are also shared by Ireland and informed our decision to intervene on this occasion.”
About €20 billion in EU funding set aside for Hungary is being withheld by the commission due to serious concerns about the way Mr Orban’s government has eroded rights and undermined the rule of law in the country.
Ireland joined a commission case taken to the European Court of Justice against Hungary two years ago challenging a law that banned the portrayal of gay people in content aimed at people aged under 18.
