Hungary faces ‘moment of truth’ over rule by decree, Jourová says

European Commission VP also hopes for new dialogue with Poland after election.

Hungary faces a “moment of truth” with its pledge to revoke emergency rule later this month, European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová said.

Jourová made the remarks during an interview with POLITICO’s EU Confidential podcast, in which she cited concerns about the rule of law in both Hungary and Poland.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government has been widely criticized for taking on emergency powers that include rule by decree without a set time limit as part of its response to the coronavirus crisis.

The government has defended the emergency regime as necessary for dealing with an unprecedented crisis. Justice Minister Judit Varga announced last month that it would come to an end on June 20 as the coronavirus has receded.

But human rights activists have warned that the government plans legal changes that would make it easier to assume emergency powers in future.

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Jourová, whose job as vice president for values and transparency includes responsibility for the rule of law, said it would be problematic if Hungary does not return to its previous legal order when emergency rule ends.

“This will be the moment of truth, [as to] whether the situation and the legal order and the balance of powers in Hungary will come back to the old normal … or there will be some remainders of the emergency regime, which we would see as a problem from the EU law point of view,” she said.

Jourová also expressed concern about the detention of two people in Hungary for Facebook posts critical of the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.

Both men were released after some hours and the cases against them were dropped. But Jourová, who was once placed in pre-trial detention over false accusations of fraud, said she knew first hand that such an experience can do great damage.

“I was really very unpleasantly surprised,” Jourová said of the detentions. “I myself experienced such a situation, and the detention and the police investigation — it’s a big blow to everybody, to his or her family, or to his or her professional career.”

She said the detentions could deter others from criticism, producing a “chilling effect,” not only on journalists but on the general public.

Jourová said the Commission could not take action in those cases as they were not “systemic.” But she said the Commission is still analyzing decrees issued by the government during emergency rule.

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EU institutions have triggered so-called Article 7 censure proceedings against both Hungary and Poland, accusing them of putting the bloc’s core values at risk. Budapest and Warsaw have in turn accused the EU of unwarranted meddling in their domestic affairs.

In Poland’s case, the Commission’s concerns center on reforms to the judicial system that Brussels and many legal experts say undermine its independence.

Jourová said the Commission would continue with legal action against Poland over the changes. But she also held out the prospect of renewed dialogue with Warsaw after a presidential election, the first round of which is scheduled for June 28.

“We have to start a new chapter of the dialogue after the Polish presidential elections. I do believe there will be a space and hopefully also goodwill from the Polish side to sit around the table,” she said.

“I would really like to hear that they recognize that there are things which the Commission has to address — that the Polish judges are also European judges.”