European Parliament Moves to Sue EU Commission

The European Parliament is pursuing legal action against the European Union (EU) Executive Commission, which functions as the executive branch.

According to foreign media such as Euronews and Politico on the 12th (local time), the European Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs decided in a meeting held the previous afternoon to sue the Commission with 16 votes in favor and 1 against.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The Legal Affairs Committee judged that there was a problem with the Commission's decision last December to reallocate 10.2 billion euros (approximately 14.5 trillion won) from the frozen Hungarian funds. This is part of the funds previously frozen by the Commission due to Hungary's infringement on judicial independence.

This decision came a day before the EU summit held on December 15 last year. Subsequently, Hungary abstained rather than vetoed the Ukraine accession negotiations. The European Parliament is reportedly suspicious that the Commission and Hungary engaged in a de facto 'under-the-table deal.' Hungary's measures to improve judicial independence were insufficient, but Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary was given the frozen funds to prevent him from exercising a veto on Ukraine-related issues. The European Parliament is expected to submit a complaint to the European Court of Justice after receiving final approval from European Parliament President Roberta Metsola within a few days at the earliest.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.