Democracy

The Hungarian-Polish veto on the EU budget and the recovery fund was averted at the European Council last week, but threats to core European values were not. The EU’s rule of law crisis is nowhere near to being solved, and attacks on fundamental rights and democracy will intensify in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

From Catholic fundamentalism to the far right, a diverse and loosely connected network of anti-gender movements is growing in the country and creating new challenges.

The European Greens look back on two exceptional years of electoral history. In 2019, members of the European Green Party (EGP) won record numbers of seats in the European election. This two-article series shows how EGP members profited from this electoral wave in 2020 and sheds light on what to expect from elections in Europe in 2021. This first article shows that the Greens in Europe generally were able to establish themselves further at the local and regional level in Western Europe and get a foot in the door in some Eastern European countries.

An interview with MEP Sergey Lagodinsky (Greens/EFA) on the protection of the rule of law in the EU, the European Commission’s proposals and the demands of the European Parliament.

Hungary and Poland indicated in November that they would veto the European Union’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027 and the Next Generation EU (NGEU) economic recovery fund. However, recent developments indicate that Hungary’s and Poland’s views on the matter have diverged. What does Budapest stand to gain by using its veto?

The new European Commission's Rule of Law Report cannot be expected to deter those deliberately seeking or already engaged in the systemic dismantlement of national checks and balances. Unless these shortcomings are remedied, the new yearly monitoring exercise will create more problems than it will solve.

Interview with Benedek Jávor about the blackmailing attempt of Viktor Orbán and Mateusz Morawiecki, the importance of the rule of law in the EU and the responsibility of the German government.

Hungary and Poland are blocking the agreement on the new EU budget in a bid to stop EU payments being linked to the principle of the rule of law. In our interview, Piotr Buras of ECFR Warsaw and Lucas Guttenberg of the Jacques Delors Centre at Berlin’s Hertie School urge the EU not to give in at this key point in time.

Joint statement by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, the Robert Bosch Foundation, the Goethe Institute, the European Cultural Foundation and the Mercator Foundation to members of the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the German Bundestag.

On 25 October, one year on from the mass demonstrations in the country, the Chilean electorate voted by an overwhelming majority of more than 78% in favour of a new constitution and of 79% for an assembly comprised solely of citizens to write this constitution.