The European Union must protect its foundations and take stronger action against the Orbán regime in response to the unprecedented breaches of human dignity and democracy documented by the EU Parliament in Hungary, a new study says.
It argues that the decisions of the EU Commission and the European Council not to trigger Article 7(2) Treaty on the European Union- designed to address 'a serious and persistent breach of EU values' by a member state – puts the EU's own foundations at risk and allows the Hungarian regime to skilfully exploit the gaps and fuzziness of EU and constitutional law around the core values of democracy and human dignity.
According to the study, a resounding statement on the EU's part that its commitment to dignity and democracy entails valuing all human beings equally, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity and religion, would provide a timely and much needed clarification on these two foundational values enshrined under Article 2 TEU.
The EU Parliament has documented concerns about democracy, the rule of law and human rights in Hungary since 2011. In 2018, the European Parliament triggered Article 7(1) against Hungary. In 2022 it noted that this member state is 'no longer a democracy'. The deterioration of democracy in Hungary goes beyond attacks on the rule of law, judicial independence, the electoral system, privacy and data protection, freedom of expression including media pluralism, and academic freedom. Of particular concern are systematic attacks on freedom of religion, freedom of association, the right to equal treatment including LGBTIQ rights, the rights of persons belonging to minorities, including Roma and Jews, and protection against hateful comments against such minorities, as well as the fundamental rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, the rights of women, and economic and social rights. All of which, the study argues, fall under the EU foundational commitment to human dignity. In 2023, the European Parliament called again on the EU Commission to trigger the procedure under Article 7(1) TEU to address breaches of EU values.
The European Parliament repeated its concerns in January 2024 in response to further deterioration of democracy and human rights in Hungary. The other key EU institutions, however, refused to take action under Article 7(2). In February 2024, the Justice Commissioner, Didier Reynders said the EU Commission will not trigger Article 7. The General Affairs Council of 25 June 2024 held a hearing on Article 7(1) but did not find it necessary to take the procedure further. Neither did the Council discuss Hungary's then imminent presidency of the EU nor explore possibilities for its suspension or postponement.
The study, by Catherine Dupré, from the University of Exeter Law School, is published in the European Law Journal.
Dr Dupré said: "The significance of human dignity as the EU's first foundational value [under Art. 2 TEU] seems to have gone almost completely unnoticed by the EU itself. This silence is particularly odd considering that human dignity is also codified in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights as being 'inviolable' under Article 1"
"The Orbán regime has consistently and relentlessly pursued its own version of what it means to be a human being in an autocracy and 'illiberal democracy'. [In breach of its commitment to human dignity under the TEU], it has pursued a strategy of exclusion from society of certain people on the sole basis of who they are."
"The Orbán regime is implementing a new way of dehumanising people without physically destroying them. The EU Commission and the Council must not wait for breaches of human dignity documented in the European Parliament's resolutions to become physical and to reach the magnitude of those experienced during the Second World War and (communist) dictatorships in Europe [for taking action under Article 7 TEU].
"How many autocracies is the EU prepared to tolerate in its midst, and for how long? Engaging fully with Article 7 would provide a timely framework for understanding better the significance of 'democracy' as an Article 2 value and for protecting it more effectively across the EU.
