EU court approves linking funds to respect for rule of law

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s highest court ruled on Wednesday that the 27-nation bloc can link financial backing for member states to respect for rule of law and that a challenge by Hungary and Poland should be dismissed.

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 full court dismisses the action,” a statement read out by the judge said.

The ruling was hotly anticipated by many who had accused the two nations of democratic backsliding and had seen the linkage measure as the EU’s most potent weapon to prevent a democratic legitimacy rift deepening within the bloc.

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 rejected such reasoning, arguing 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.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been pushing what he calls “illiberal democracy,” which his critics say amounts to stifling democracy. In Poland, the Law and Justice party overwhelmingly dominates government and has also increasingly faced criticism from other EU member nations. The rightwing-government has broken the nation’s own laws in order in order to gain political control over courts and judges.

Hungary and Poland initially sought to block the budget because of the introduction of the new mechanism, but eventually agreed to the plan on condition that the European Court of Justice would review it.