WARSAW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2020) Poland and Hungary did not veto the EU's proposed 1.8 trillion euro ($2.1 trillion) seven-year budget and COVID-19 recovery package but only warned about such a possibility in advance, Polish Secretary of State for Europe Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek said on Monday.
Last week, Polish and Hungarian permanent representatives to the EU refused to give their support to the bloc's 1.074 trillion budget, as well as the 750 billion euro COVID-19 recovery plan. The rejection came amid an ongoing spat over the bloc's desire to implement the rule of law mechanism that makes access to EU funds conditional on member states adopting a series of shared values and principles.
"The formal voting at the European Council has not been held yet. We along with our partners are indicating in advance that this kind of budget that would include a mechanism that de facto makes it so that not countries but only European institutions, on the basis of very unclear criteria, decide if a state is entitled to a payment or not, even though it paid a contribution to the budget, is unacceptable," Szynkowski vel Sek told the Polskie Radio broadcaster.
According to the official, this does not correspond with the spirit of the European Union's solidarity.
Hungary and Poland are believed to be the two main targets of the rule of law mechanism, both countries are under the formal EU process over the independence of judges in the two countries. Warsaw and Budapest, in turn, said that the bloc's actions represent an unjustified attempt to interfere with the internal affairs of a member state.
The budget and the recovery package require the unanimous support of the EU member states. The EU leaders now have just over a month to agree on the budget, as it is set to enter into force in January and member states urgently need the funds to overcome the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.
