Although the overall progress is palpable, only 25% of last year’s recommendations have been fully implemented, the Commission’s report noted, while 35% wasn’t even started.
Students and academics discussed the direct impact the EU sanctions would have on their academic lives, while most believe the ban will be overturned by the ECJ.
The Polish opposition attempts to take power by getting the EU involved, MEP Balázs Hidvéghi remarked, adding that Poland “is able to follow its path without constant lessons from the West.”
Romania’s pro-EU government changed rules impacting the courts, despite human rights groups warning that the reforms represent a clear threat to judicial independence. The EU Commission failed to act.
“We should strip this presidency of all glitter and glamor,” the mostly leftist coalition argued, saying that they can’t let Orbán become “face of the European Union.”
EU funds must be disbursed without political bias, the delegation stressed, but as Minister Navracsics noted, the MEPs themselves were prone to partiality, inevitable since they hadn’t read the document’s contents.
