Hungary has filed a lawsuit against the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over migration-related fines requested by Brussels, Justice Minister Bence Tuzson announced on Monday, December 15th, describing the move as an “unprecedented step in EU history.”
According to the minister, Hungary had already amended its rules following a 2020 ECJ ruling on transit zones. Despite these changes, he said, the European Commission continued to push for sanctions in order to force a change in Hungary’s migration policy and took the case back to the Court in a politically motivated decision.
The proceedings resulted in what Tuzson described as a penalty without precedent in the European Union: a lump sum fine of €200 million and a daily fine of €1 million, both deducted from funds due to Hungary. He stressed that the Court imposed a lump sum 29 times higher and a daily fine 61 times higher than what had been requested by the Commission.
The Hungarian government cannot appeal the ECJ’s 2024 judgement, as it is a binding ruling. It is instead launching a damages action, arguing that the Court had disregarded a number of EU rules and principles, thus causing damage to a member state. Under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, in such cases the institution is obliged to provide compensation, Tuzson explained.
The imposed fine clearly showed that whoever goes against the EU Commission will have all EU institutions going after them to force the hand of democratically elected governments. In November, ECJ President Koen Lenaerts gave a speech in Brussels that was widely seen as a direct attack on Hungary. Lenaerts stated that “EU funds must not serve to enrich an oligarchy surrounding a ruler or a ruling party,” accusations that Brussels has already made in the past against Hungary, although no country was named specifically in Lenaerts’ remarks.
Lenaerts also argued that all EU member states should be required to join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which investigates crimes involving EU funds. Hungary has so far refused to join, citing sovereignty concerns and the risk of political manipulation by unelected prosecutors based in Luxembourg and Brussels.
As the ruling of the ECJ concerning the fines for not complying with the Brussels mandate on immigration is final, Hungary is now launching a compensation lawsuit, arguing that the Court violated fundamental principles such as fair procedure, proportionality, legal certainty, and the equality of member states. “This is not a legal issue but an ideological and political one,” Tuzson said, adding that Hungary “will not allow Brussels to force it to accept migrants.”
Earlier last week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated, “We will not take a single migrant in, and we will not pay for others’ migrants. Hungary will not implement the measures of the Migration Pact.”
Hungary’s struggle against the pro-immigration forces in Brussels continues, with the lawsuit against the ECJ opening up a new front in the long-running conflict.
Zolta Győri is a journalist at europeanconservative.com.
