Hungarian Minister of Justice and Kinga Gál’s presentation at the University of Szeged

The European Commission, from which neutrality was expected in political sense would be a better forum for this, the professor of the University of Szeged (SZTE) pointed out on the conference with the motto „National identity and constitutional identity in the relation of the European Union and the member states”.

According to the minister, it might be dangerous, should the agencies/institutions of the European Union investigate the state of the rule of law and democracy in case of a member state, carrying out not a legal, but a political examination. In case of the latter, it is likely that political viewpoints/aspects would be more important than the professional ones.

In the European Council, where the members are politicians, a dispute may occur over the question of the rule of law, which might bring the integrated EU not in the direction of the dialogue, but to the explosion, the professor emphasized.

Only such controll mechanisms could be introduced, by them the concept/principle of the fair procedure is taken into consideration, László Trócsányi said. We should keep in mind what specialities the individual states have, and although fundamental values are important, we should be careful when defining them, as the relation of a multi-centurial and a „25 years old” democracy was hardly comparable, he added.

At the conference, which was organized by the Europe Direct Szeged of the SZTE, Kinga Gál MEP from the European People’s Party pointed out, that the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty had opened up the route for the restructuring of the relations between the the European institutions, and also for the strengthened role of the EP, and by this, highlighted the political viewpoints. According to the vice-president of the EP’s LIBE committee, the latter had some positive effects, for example, the initiatives of the parliament had made a significant advancement in important daily/everyday issues of the people.

At the same time, the topic of the fundamental rights had also become politicized, and as fundamental changes had just begun to take place in 2010 in Hungary, the EP, and the left-wing majority of the LIBE committee used Hungary to test the limits of their competencies, the MEP pointed out. She added, that the fact, that Hungary had been only a pretense for that is born out by the lack of majority needed for the examinitation of the breaches of law, when countries led by the left – Romania, Slovakia or Bulgaria – had come into question.