EC starts acting on Hungary over law on NGO foreign funding
THE EUROPEAN Commission yesterday began an infringement procedure against Hungary over the country’s controversial law on foreign-funded NGOs.
The law, introduced in 2017, requires NGOs that receive foreign donations above a certain amount to register with Hungarian authorities and be publicly labelled as foreign-funded. If they fail to comply, the NGOs can be forced to close.
Critics of the law argue that it is tailored to target US billionaire George Soros, a Hungarian-born businessman whose philanthropic work supports democracy and human rights around the world.
Hungary says the law serves to make funding more transparent.
The commission sent a letter of formal notice to Budapest yesterday. Hungary has two months to respond, after which the EU executive can send the case back to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) – potentially resulting in fines.
The ECJ found last year that the law – formally known as the “Transparency Law” – was hostile towards civil society, undermining fundamental rights. It ruled that the law was in breach of EU rules on free movement of capital, as well as the right to protection of personal data and freedom of association. “The European Court of Justice was clear – restrictions imposed by [the] Hungarian government on financing of civil society organisations do not comply with EU law,” European Commissioner for Justice Vera Jourova said on Twitter. “Civil society organisations are indispensable part of our democracies. We must support them, not fight them.”
The issue is one of several that have pitted Brussels against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s conservative government. Other sore points include Budapest’s restrictive stance on asylum and broader rule-of-law concerns.
Hungarian authorities maintain that they are committed to implementing the judgment. In another case, an EU lawyer will give his opinion next week on whether Hungary is breaching fundamental rights with its restrictive asylum rules. The ECJ will deliver its judgment at a later stage.