On Monday 16 November, permanent ambassadors to the EU from the 27 Member States met to agree on the future of the European Union’s budget and the coronavirus recovery fund. Hungary and Poland blocked the ratification of the 1.8 trillion euros recovery package proposed by the European Commission. This unprecedented and unacceptable decision puts thousands of lives at risk by preventing EU funding to swiftly support recovery efforts.

Thomas Waitz and Evelyne Huytebroeck, co-chairs of the European Green Party comment:

“This action by the Polish and Hungarian governments amounts to taking the EU budget hostage. By blocking the EU budget and the recovery fund, they are preventing billions of euros from quickly reaching citizens in dire need of support in many European countries heavily affected by the coronavirus crisis. In other words, they are willing to trade lives for power and unaccountability. This is unacceptable.

The Polish and Hungarian governments want full access to EU funding but they want to avoid any scrutiny on rule of law infringements and on their systematic unraveling of core democratic values. Not only are they directly in contradiction with the EU treaties, but they selfishly harm families, businesses, citizens all across Europe, including in their own countries.

Rule of law conditionalities on the EU budget have been a long-standing demand of the Greens. The EU cannot be a space where Member States can blatantly attack democracy and the rule of law with total impunity.”

Read the original press release here.