The EU's highest court rules that the bloc can withhold funds from member states who don't respect the rule of law, and that a challenge by Hungary and Poland should be dismissed. Both nations have been criticized for veering away from democratic values.
The right-wing governments of both nations had argued that such action lacked a proper legal basis. Both nations, large recipients of EU funds, have come under increasing criticism over the past few years for veering away from the Western principles of the respect for democratic values in their nations.
The EU’s executive Commission had said it would await Wednesday’s ruling before committing on whether to withhold funds. Both Hungary and Poland have in the past reasoned that the court was overstepping its authority in approving a new mechanism that is not described in the EU’s own treaties. They said making such a link between finances and the legal decisions of independent member states amounted to blackmail from Brussels.
Poland and Hungary have faced criticism in the EU for years over allegations that they have been eroding judicial and media independence, among other democratic principles. The EU had found itself unable to do much to alter the course of either nation, and therefore turned to linking money to their adherence to democratic behavior.
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