A senior legal adviser to the European Court of Justice has said the European Commission should not have unfrozen billions of euros in funding for Hungary. Advocate general Tamara Ćapeta argued that Hungary failed to fully implement the judicial reforms required before about €10bn in EU funds could be released.
The commission had suspended payments in 2022 over concerns about corruption and rule-of-law breaches under prime minister Viktor Orbán. In 2023, it decided reforms were sufficient and lifted the freeze. The European Parliament challenged that decision, claiming the commission made serious errors.
Ćapeta said the commission did not properly assess whether reforms were effectively applied and lacked transparency in its decision. While her opinion is not binding, judges often follow such advice, and a final ruling is expected in the coming months.
If the court sides with parliament, the commission may need to recover the funds by reducing future payments. The case could set a key precedent for how the EU enforces rule-of-law conditions on member states.
