#EUFridays by JEF Hungary #22
Fanni Anna Spitzmüller
Apr-29-2022
Brussels launched the Rule of Law Procedure against Hungary
The European Union has officially launched its rule-of-law mechanism against the Hungarian government on Wednesday, April 27th, after the Chief of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen slammed "corruption" in the EU country earlier this month.
"We identified issues that might be breaching the rule of law in Hungary and affect the EU budget," said a deputy head of the Brussels-based Commission, Vera Jourova in a tweet. "Hungary will have to reply to our concerns and propose remedial measures," she added.
The legal tool, which has never been used before, could see Hungary stripped of its EU funding for breaching the bloc's democratic standards, however, it does take months before it’s complete. The mechanism allows Brussels to withhold funds from member states if the country in question commits violations including curtailing judicial independence or eroding the separation of powers. However, those violations must also pose a threat to derail the flow of EU funds.
The EU’s values, such as the rule of law, “define the very identity of the European Union as a legal order”, said the European Court of Justice. “Compliance with those values cannot be reduced to an obligation which a candidate state must meet in order to accede to the European Union and which it may disregard after accession.”
The Wednesday announcement marks the first time the EU has ever used this legal option. The mechanism was approved by the ECJ earlier this year following a challenge by Hungary and Poland, which have drawn the Commission's ire in recent years over reforms curbing the independence of the judiciary and civil society or targeting the rights of minorities including women and LGBTQI+ citizens.
https://www.dw.com/en/eu-triggers-rule-of-law-procedure-against-hungary/a-61607618
EU warns Elon Musk to play by the tech rules of Europe
While some people wonder what changes might come to Twitter after Elon Musk struck a deal to purchase the social media platform for $44 billion on Monday, April 25th, Brussels has warned the billionaire that Twitter must comply with the EU’s new digital rules under his ownership, or risk hefty fines or even a ban, setting the stage for a global regulatory battle over the future of the social media platform.
Musk said on Monday that “free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy” and described Twitter as “the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated”.
In pitching his offer for twitter, Musk outlined plans to loosen the social media platform’s content moderation policies, describing himself as a „free speech absolutist”
However, he quickly received a reply from the EU's internal market commissioner Thierry Breton: according to the commissioner the American social network, soon to be acquired by the billionaire entrepreneur, will have to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act reining in the power of big tech.
He said: “Anyone who wants to benefit from this market will have to fulfil our rules. The board [of Twitter] will have to make sure that if it operates in Europe it will have to fulfil the obligations, including moderation, open algorithms, freedom of speech, transparency in rules, obligations to comply with our own rules for hate speech, revenge porn [and] harassment.”
The Digital Services Act, which will come into force in a few months' time once it has completed its legislative process, updates the EU's 20-year-old e-commerce directive and applies to all major platforms "to make sure their power over public debate is subject to democratically validated rules, in particular on transparency and accountability”. The aim is to put an end to lawlessness and abuse on the internet, while better defending users' rights. The new regulation stipulates that social media platforms have an obligation to "promptly" remove any illegal content (according to national and European laws) as soon as they become aware of it. It also obliges social networks to suspend users who "frequently" break the law.
Twitter will have to "adapt completely to European rules" whatever Elon Musk's intentions regarding freedom of speech, the European Commission warned on Tuesday. Breton said: “We welcome everyone. We are open but on our conditions. At least we know what to tell him: ‘Elon, there are rules. You are welcome but these are our rules. It’s not your rules which will apply here.’” He also added that „if Twitter does not comply with our law, there are sanctions – 6 percent of the revenue and, if they continue, banned from operating in Europe.”
https://www.ft.com/content/22f66209-f5b2-4476-8cdb-de4befffebe5
https://www.cnet.com/news/social-media/musk-twitter-must-comply-with-eu-rules-official-says/
UK Universities face „brain-drain” as the EU threatens to withdraw funding due to Brexit
Up to £145million may be revoked from UK academics due to issues over the Northern Ireland protocol.
The European Research Council (ERC) has written to 98 scientists and academics who were recently approved for €172m (£145m) in grants telling them that if the UK’s associate membership of the €80bn Horizon Europe programme is not ratified they will not be eligible to draw down the money.
Scientists are now scrambling to find alternative institutions in the European Union to host the funding, with some already turning down the ERC money and hoping the UK government’s promise of replacement cash will be delivered.
The researchers, however, said they found the condition "devastating" as the ERC is considered one of the most prestigious programmes in the world. “The idea that the UK could replicate the system and apparatus of something like the ERC in the near to medium term is, at best, unrealistic” Payam Gammage, a scientist at the Beatson Institute at Glasgow University said.
Thiemo Fetzer, a professor of economics at Warwick University who was approved for €1.5m of funding, said: “We all had reason to believe that the UK association was just a matter of the UK implementing the free trade agreement. Now we are waking up to the reality. It is very devastating.”
The science minister, George Freeman, has pledged to extend the guaranteed replacement funding until December 2022. The ERC president, Prof Maria Leptin, said she was “fervently hoping” that the UK-EU negotiations would be finalised and “result in association” with Horizon Europe.