A continued failure by Hungary to tackle cases of high-level corruption remains a “concern” for the European Union, a new report has said.
Hungary’s far-right government, led by populist prime minister Viktor Orban, was criticised for overseeing a “deteriorating environment” for civil-society organisations in the central European country.
A report assessing the rule of law across the EU said judges in Hungary faced “undue pressure” and people believed there was a high level of corruption in the public sector.
EU commissioner for justice Michael McGrath said it was “deeply disappointing” that the situation in Hungary had not improved over the last year.
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The recent attempt to ban the LGBT+ Pride parade in Budapest was a further example that Hungary had slipped backwards, he said.
The EU’s annual rule of law report said the number of people convicted in Hungary over corruption charges had decreased, though the number of initial indictments remained high.
The risk of “political influence and undue interference” on police investigators and prosecutors was worrying, the report said.
The lack of investigations into alleged corruption by high-ranking Hungarian officials and those in their close circles “remain areas of concern”, the report said. It also raised fears about “clientelism, favouritism and nepotism” in the Hungarian public administration.
Ongoing concerns about the government undermining the rule of law and civil society has led to €18 billion of EU funding due to Hungary being frozen by the European Commission, the union’s executive arm that proposes and enforces EU laws.
“Concerns related to the absence of procedural safeguards and effective oversight in case of secret surveillance measures outside criminal proceedings have not been addressed,” the report said.
The commission’s report criticised prime minister Robert Fico’s populist government in Slovakia for putting further pressure on civil-society groups and making it more difficult for independent journalists to work.
There had been no progress made to improve the investigation and prosecution of cases involving high-level corruption, the report said. The power of a prosecutor general in Slovakia to annul the final decisions of lower-level prosecutors was concerning, it added.
Speaking in Strasbourg, Mr McGrath said work to improve the rule of law had picked “the low-hanging fruit” over recent years. Progress national capitals were being asked to make on other recommendations for “deeper, more structural” reforms would take longer.
The EU report said large publicly-funded contracts and infrastructure projects were sectors vulnerable to corruption in Spain. It noted that a previous survey had found many companies felt corruption had prevented them from winning public contracts in the last three years.
There had been “limited progress” bringing in comprehensive rules governing political lobbying in Italy, the report said. There were similar shortcomings in Bulgaria’s effort to ensure a higher standard of integrity across government.
