The EU is trying to bring Hungary to heel

If there was a word in Euro-speak for ‘Move on, nothing to see here,’ the EU would undoubtedly have used it in its announcement yesterday about Hungary. Brussels has formally notified Budapest that it is invoking the so-called ‘conditionality mechanism’ against it, meaning a supermajority within the EU can vote to withhold funds from a member state where there is a threat to the rule of law coupled with direct effects on the sound financial management of the EU budget or other EU financial interests.

The notification itself has not been publicised; but everything, the EU says, is in order. A letter was sent last November outlining allegations of graft, corruption and nepotism among those distributing EU largesse; the European parliament demanded action when no adequate response was received. Now we have a formal claim to which Hungary has to respond within two months, otherwise it risks losing EU funds.