The bulk of the EU budget will also be withheld from those countries where the rule of law situation is not adequate.

According to the Swedish and Finnish ministers responsible for European affairs, the rule of law criteria should also be extended to subsidies distributed under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). EuronewsThe Nordic ministry leaders sent a joint letter to the European Commission ahead of Tuesday’s ministerial meeting, writing that all member states must commit to the EU’s core values, including the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights.

According to Jessica Rosenkrantz from Sweden and Joakim Strand from Finland, EU countries have voluntarily signed up to support these principles, but experience shows that there is a need for regulations that effectively hold the rule of law to account. Under the Common Agricultural Policy, €264 billion, or more than HUF 100,000 billion, will be allocated between 2023 and 2027, the largest item in the EU budget. Of this, €189 billion will go directly to farmers, and €66 billion could be spent on developing poor rural areas.

The European Commission had previously suspended €76.5 billion in payments to Poland, but finally began disbursing the money in February, but half of the €22 billion suspended for Hungary remains frozen, and the European Commission’s latest report in July still points to systemic irregularities. The problems mentioned relate to the state of the rule of law in Hungary.



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