Steven N.The European Parliament is suing the European Commission over the executive body’s reluctance to activate a new mechanism that allows it stop the disbursement of funds to member states that contravene EU law.
The EU adopted the mechanism as a way to respond to alleged democratic backsliding in countries like Hungary and Poland. It came into force in January but has not been applied yet, and MEPs have been threatening the Commission with a lawsuit for weeks.
The Parliament’s legal service submitted the lawsuit at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg.
In the words of EU Parliament President David Sassoli, “We expect the European Commission to act in a consistent manner and live up to what President von der Leyen stated during our last plenary discussion on this subject. Words have to be turned into deeds.”
Hungary and Poland had previously filed a lawsuit at the ECJ to attempt to prevent the mechanism from coming into force, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen subsequently announced that the Commission would not activate the rule of law mechanism until this legal case is settled first. [Euronews]
