A delegation from the European Union's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee is visiting Hungary between 24th and 26th of September.

The European Parliament asked the Commission to prepare a report on whether the recent modifications related to Hungarian laws and the new Fundamental Law are in line with the basic laws and values included in the European treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The visit of the delegation is part of this evaluation process. The commission has received two reports until now: one of them on the independence of jurisprudence and the other regarding the exercise of fundamental rights in Hungary.

There will be meetings among many others with the Committee Chairs of the Hungarian National Assembly, Péter Harrach (leader of the KDNP Group in the Hungarian Parliament), Dr. Tamás Szűcs (Head of the Representation of the European Commission), Tibor Navracsics (Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Public Administration and Justice), László Sólyom (Former President of Hungary), Enikő Győri (Minister of State for European Affairs), Máté Szabó (Ombudsman, Commissioner for fundamental rights), András Baka (Member of the Curia, former President of the Supreme Court), András Kovács (Professor, Central European University), Ferenc Kumin (Deputy State Secretary for International Communications), Péter Darák (Chairman of the Supreme Court).

Frank Engel, EP of the European People’s Party, announced in July that a European Parliament commission would be traveling to Hungary to review the implementation of fundamental rights. In July, Mr. Engel stated that the European Parliament must keep pace with the changes implemented in Hungary. He considered then that the case would be closed within months and would definitely not last for years.

(Prime Minister’s Office)