Existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded
The European Parliament adopted by 415 votes to 193, with 28 abstentions, a resolution on the proposal for a Council decision determining, pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union, the existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded.
Persistent decline of EU values and the rule of law
Parliament is outraged by the systematic and deliberate attempts by the Hungarian government to undermine the founding values of the Union enshrined in Article 2 of the EU Treaty, considering that the facts and trends referred to in its resolutions represent a systemic threat to all of these values. It stressed that these trends have worsened considerably since the triggering of the procedure provided for in Article 7(1) of the Treaty and deplores the fact that the lack of decisive action by the Commission and the Council has contributed to the erosion of democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental rights in Hungary, turning the country into a hybrid regime of electoral autocracy.
Members believe that any further delay to the Council's action would constitute a violation of the rule of law by the Council itself. They called on the Commission and the Member States to initiate the procedure provided for in Article 7(2) of the EU Treaty and asked the European Council to determine whether Hungary has committed serious and persistent breaches of the Union's values.
Members called on the Council and the Commission to pay closer attention to combating the systematic and deliberate dismantling of the rule of law and condemned any attempt to undermine the principle of the primacy of EU law, in particular the disregard or undermining of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Hungary has a legal obligation to comply with all judgments of the CJEU and the European Court of Human Rights without exception, and failure to do so constitutes a serious breach of the rule of law.
Parliament once again called on the Commission to make full use of the instruments to address the clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded, including infringement procedures based on Article 2 of the EU Treaty, accelerated infringement procedures, applications for interim measures before the CJEU and actions for non-implementation of CJEU judgments.
Electoral integrity
Recalling that the functioning of the Union is based on representative democracy, Parliament called on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that the 2026 elections in Hungary are free and fair and to pay particular attention to the link between corruption and electoral integrity, including practices by which economic dependence or clientelist networks distort free choice.
Members expressed their concern about the increasing use of unlabelled, AI-generated political content in Hungary in the lead-up to the 2026 elections, including the deliberate posting of deepfake videos on social media platforms closely linked to the Prime Minister's political party and campaign, and their coordinated amplification to maximise their reach and impact on the public. They stressed that the deliberate use of AI-generated content is intended to mislead voters, discredit political opponents, and undermine the integrity of the electoral process.
Conditionality
Recalling the importance of the rule of law conditionality regulation, Members called on the Commission to propose, in view of the further deterioration of the situation, additional proportionate measures affecting some or even all of the budgetary commitments and payments to Hungary, calibrated on the nature, gravity and persistence of the breaches found, while ensuring safeguards to ensure that the final beneficiaries of European funds, in particular civil society, are not deprived of financial support.
The resolution stressed that the measures required for the release of EU funding, as defined by the relevant decisions taken under the Common Provisions Regulation, the RRF Regulation and the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation, must be assessed in a coherent manner as an integral package and that no payments should be made while deficiencies persist in one or more areas.
Right of veto
Members condemn the transactional use of the Union's budgetary instruments, which undermines the coherence of the EU’s legal order, weakens the credibility of the procedure laid down in Article 7 of the EU Treaty, and rewards a Member State that continues to engage in systemic violations of the Union's values. They also condemned Hungary's use of its veto in the Council on strategically important and sensitive security decisions, such as vital aid to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, and regrated that the veto has been used as leverage to extract concessions on the rule of law.
Espionage
Parliament took note of the Commission’s investigation of the allegations of espionage by the Hungarian Government within the EU institutions. It expects the Commission to report on the outcome of this investigation as soon as possible, stressing that the investigation should address the role of current Commissioner Várhelyi, former head of the Permanent Representation of Hungary, and should lead to tangible consequences for those involved.
The resolution also highlighted concerns about the systematic weakening of the National Judicial Council, its failure to defend the economic and social rights of Hungarian citizens (particularly in the areas of public health, public transport, education, housing and energy), its threats to academic freedom, its politically motivated business practices, the allocation of public advertising to pro-government media and its de facto constitutional ban on Pride marches.