A delegation from the Civil Liberties Committee concluded on Friday a visit to Hungary in which they met with the Government, the opposition, journalists and NGOs. The aim of the trip was to assess the respect for press and academic freedom, judicial independence, the rights of minorities and the wider rule of law context on the ground. The delegation exchanged views with the Justice and Interior ministers, Budapest’s Mayor and representatives of the political opposition. They also met civil society organisations, journalists, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, representatives of academia and the education system, and of several cultural institutions. The delegation was headed by Gwendoline DELBOS-CORFIELD (Greens/EFA, FR). Video of the entire press conference released by Gwendoline DELBOS-CORFIELD (Greens/EFA, FR).

Immigration (T2)

fight for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (T)

freedom of press and media (T)

EU mechanism on democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights (T)

EU - Hungary (T)

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asylum, migration and integration fund (T)

DELBOS-CORFIELD, Gwendoline (Greens/EFA, FR)

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EP Press conference EP LIBE delegation to Hungary, Budapest

Gwendoline DELBOS-CORFIELD (Greens/EFA,FR), Head of the EP LIBE delegation, Hello and thank you for being here and thank you for being so, so numeros. How come to have a lot of people at a conference press conference come to a mission in Hungary? I usually speak to one or two journalists a few times a year. So it's impressive how much interest there is for what we do here. Who are we? We were a delegation from the European Parliament. This delegation of the European Parliament spent three, busy days, very busy days, but very interesting days in Hungary. We met more than 100 people and when I'm saying 100 people, we spoke to at least 85 of them.

Gwendoline DELBOS-CORFIELD (Greens/EFA,FR), Head of the EP LIBE delegation, All these people presented, of course, different opinions, different political opinions and different views. All these opinions we heard and all these opinions will also be listened to in the rest of our work. This is the cornerstone of democracy. This delegation, we presented all seven political groups of the European Parliament from the left to the far right. Seven groups. These are the rules of the European Parliament. And in these seven, you have left, you have Center-Left, you have Greens, you have center right, you have far right. Just to give you the plurality of who we were.

Gwendoline DELBOS-CORFIELD (Greens/EFA,FR), Head of the EP LIBE delegation, We went through all of these meetings, we were starting at 8:00 in the morning and we were leaving at 9:00 in the evening and we were rushing people in and rushing people out. And I would really like to thank all of these people that accepted to talk to us, and also express my regrets that we couldn't go deeper in most of the discussions we had.

Gwendoline DELBOS-CORFIELD (Greens/EFA,FR), Head of the EP LIBE delegation, This mission was supposed to be here in March 2020. It has been planned since 2019. We did not come in March 2020 because there was a pandemic. And in February 2020, all missions were stopped in the European Parliament. Since this summer, we have been hoping to come and it was on the priority list of of the Parliament to come in Hungary because it is important. No such mission had happened since 2011, and it's one of a very important job to go to our member states. We do not work only from Bruxelles. We do not only meet people on the phone or by digital means. We need to be on the ground in member states. That's why we were here this.

Gwendoline DELBOS-CORFIELD (Greens/EFA,FR), Head of the EP LIBE delegation, Mission was very official, it was voted in Parliament, and it was all organized in the way the European Parliament does work. Meaning that each political group could make inputs in the agenda they would taken on board, and meaning also that all these people could discuss on how we would be working. Hungary is part of the European Union since 2004. Hungarian people are fully represented in our institutions in all matters, including on the voting of reports on the resolutions concerning Hungary, but also on how we organize our work, as I said.

Gwendoline DELBOS-CORFIELD (Greens/EFA,FR), Head of the EP LIBE delegation, This mission, of course, was in a very specific framework. This framework, and you know, it is the Article seven procedure. You know that in 2018 the European Parliament triggered this procedure and indeed, now the procedure is mostly taking place in the Council. But the Parliament follows the situation closely, and it is entitled to address recommendations to the Council, and our consent is needed for the Council decision. That is why this mission was one of our duties and it was very important to come here.

Gwendoline DELBOS-CORFIELD (Greens/EFA,FR), Head of the EP LIBE delegation, We met people working in justice, we met people working in media, we met civil society organization, we met academics, we met people from the education world, from the commercial world. And we met, of course, members of Parliament, opposition parties, the mayor of Budapest and two ministers, Miss Varga and Mr Pinter. Everywhere we have been welcomed, one person refused to talk to us. Someone from the media world, he came, he said we were a joke, a theater, and he left. But apart from that, we had very interesting discussions.

Gwendoline DELBOS-CORFIELD (Greens/EFA,FR), Head of the EP LIBE delegation, It has to be said that in Curia and Constitutional Court, it was more difficult. There was some refusal to answer our questions, but there was a clear hostility also. And in one case, in the Curia case, we were twice threatened of contempt to justice, which of course, was theoretical because we were not judged by the Curia, but it's to say how complicated at some moment the discussion was. But apart from that, all of these people took a lot of time to talk to us. It was very interesting, and I am quite surprised, in fact, as how much interest, we as European Parliament, we got here, because it's not always the case in all member states.

Gwendoline DELBOS-CORFIELD (Greens/EFA,FR), Head of the EP LIBE delegation, We came with concerns, these concerns are there since 2018 at least, when the resolution was voted in Parliament. These concerns remain. Some people we heard, gave us information that make us think, and it's the majority of the delegation that think that the situation has worsened on some aspect of our Rule of law in Hungary. But we need, of course, to process all this information to go more in-depth. And this will be reflected in further text voted in Parliament. And if they're not voted with majority, they will not be text of the Parliament. But if they are voted by the majority, then they will become decision of the Parliament. This is how we work in the European Parliament.

Gwendoline DELBOS-CORFIELD (Greens/EFA,FR), Head of the EP LIBE delegation, We will go on working, of course, me as a rapporteur of the European Parliament for Hungary, but also with my colleagues the shadow rapporteur on this file and all the other people involved in the European Parliament on Rule of law and democracy aspects in Hungary and in all member states. Because we work on all aspects of rule of law in all member states. I will now maybe take a few questions. I just wanted to say that I have a plane in in very quickly, so I've been asked to go very quickly, so I will not be able to take all the questions.

Question concerning the child protection law

Question concerning the meetings with the Supreme and the Constitutional Courts

Question concerning the presence of Hungarian MEPs in the delegation

Question concerning asylum seekers, migrants, quotas and Rule of Law

Question concerning the recovery fund in Hungary