Jun 13 2024 ECJ to fine Hungary €1m a day until it complies with EU refugee laws: Hungary has been ordered to pay a €200m (£169m) fine for its refusal to uphold the rights of asylum seekers in what was described as an “unprecedented” breach of EU law by the bloc’s highest court. The European court of justice in Luxembourg also ordered Budapest to pay €1m a day until it complies with EU laws guaranteeing refugees the right to claim asylum inside Hungarian borders.
欧洲法院将对匈牙利每天处以 100 万欧元罚款，直至其遵守欧盟难民法
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/13/hungary-fined-over-treatment-of-asylum-seekers-in-unprecedented-breach-of-eu-law
欧洲法院还命令布达佩斯支付2亿欧元，以弥补"史无前例"的违规行为
詹妮弗·兰金于 2024 年 6 月 13 日在布鲁塞尔
匈牙利被勒令支付 2 亿欧元（1.69 亿英镑）的罚款，原因是其拒绝维护寻求庇护者的权利，欧盟最高法院称这是“史无前例”的违反欧盟法律行为。
卢森堡欧洲法院还要求布达佩斯每天支付 100 万欧元，直到其遵守欧盟法律，保证难民有权在匈牙利境内寻求庇护。
法院在周四发布的一项重要判决中表示，匈牙利在执行欧盟政策时表现出“故意逃避”，并称这是“前所未有且极其严重的侵犯欧盟法律行为”，“对欧盟法律的统一和成员国平等原则构成重大威胁”。
罚款金额高于欧盟委员会（欧盟执行机构）的要求，欧盟委员会将匈牙利告上卢森堡法院。法官还指出了“加重情节”，包括导致罚款金额增加的重复行为。
匈牙利总理维克托·奥尔班在回应判决时称，法院的裁决“令人愤慨且不可接受”，并补充说：“对布鲁塞尔的官僚来说，非法移民似乎比他们自己的欧洲公民更重要。”
这项法律裁决是在匈牙利政府接任欧盟部长理事会轮值主席国前不到三周做出的。它凸显了反欧盟民族主义领导人对欧盟构成的巨大挑战，而此时极右翼势力在法国、德国和奥地利的欧洲选举中取得进展，并有望加入荷兰政府。
该判决与 2020 年的一项裁决有关，该裁决认定匈牙利违反了欧盟移民法，以多种方式限制难民和移民寻求庇护的权利，包括将寻求庇护者关押在其与塞尔维亚接壤的 Röszke 和 Tompa 的过境营地中。
匈牙利关闭了集装箱营地，并辩称其已遵守裁决。2020 年，它通过了一项法律，要求寻求庇护者在进入该国之前在非欧盟国家的匈牙利大使馆作出“意向声明”。
因此，几乎没有人可以在匈牙利申请庇护：2023 年，当局仅收到 30 份申请。相比之下，根据欧盟庇护机构的数据，人口比匈牙利少 10 倍的塞浦路斯当年收到了 12,000 份申请。
法院在其最新裁决中表示，匈牙利 2020 年的移民法违反了欧盟庇护法和日内瓦公约，这些公约保证难民的权利，包括不驱回，不被遣返回危险境地。
法院还指出了匈牙利未能遵守欧盟法律的其他方式：在没有遵守保障措施的情况下“非法驱逐”被拒绝庇护的人，以及不允许被拒绝庇护的人在上诉期间留在匈牙利。
法院总结说，匈牙利不遵守欧盟法律“以特别严重的方式损害了”非欧盟国民和无国籍人士的权利，使他们无法在边境提出申请。
法官还批评了匈牙利的决定，即在收到国家宪法法院的裁决之前，它不会遵守 2020 年的裁决，这是对布达佩斯加入欧盟时同意的欧盟法律至高无上的严重挑战。
法院表示，匈牙利的行为将管理庇护申请的责任和财务成本转移给了其他欧盟成员国。法院表示，因此，匈牙利“严重破坏了团结和公平分担责任的原则”。
提到“史无前例”违反欧盟法律，据了解源于匈牙利在 2020 年裁决后坚决拒绝修改其政策，并反映在罚款中。
德国绿党议员、匈牙利政府的激烈批评者丹尼尔·弗伦德 (Daniel Freund) 表示，这项判决使欧尔班成为“匈牙利历史上最昂贵的总理”。
ECJ to fine Hungary €1m a day until it complies with EU refugee laws
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/13/hungary-fined-over-treatment-of-asylum-seekers-in-unprecedented-breach-of-eu-law
European court also orders Budapest to pay €200m for'unprecedented' breach of rules
Hungary has been ordered to pay a €200m (£169m) fine for its refusal to uphold the rights of asylum seekers in what was described as an “unprecedented” breach of EU law by the bloc’s highest court.
The European court of justice in Luxembourg also ordered Budapest to pay €1m a day until it complies with EU laws guaranteeing refugees the right to claim asylum inside Hungarian borders.
In a major judgment issued on Thursday, the court said Hungary had shown “deliberate evasion” in applying EU policy, which it described as “an unprecedented and exceptionally serious infringement of EU law” and “a significant threat to the unity of EU law and to the principle of equality of the member states”.
The fine was higher than sought by the European Commission, the EU executive, which took Hungary to the Luxembourg court. Judges also identified “aggravating circumstances”, including the repeat behaviour that contributed to the severity of the fine.
Responding to the judgment, the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, described the court’s ruling as “outrageous and unacceptable”, adding: “It seems that illegal migrants are more important to the Brussels bureaucrats than their own European citizens.”
The legal ruling comes less than three weeks before the Hungarian government takes charge of the rotating presidency of the EU council of ministers. It highlights the profound challenge to the bloc posed by anti-EU, nationalist leaders at a time when far-right forces made advances in European elections in France, Germany and Austria, and are expected to join the government in the Netherlands.
The judgment relates to a 2020 ruling that found Hungary had broken EU migration law by limiting the rights of refugees and migrants to claim asylum in numerous ways, including by holding asylum seekers in transit camps at Röszke and Tompa on its border with Serbia.
Hungary closed the container camps and argued it had complied with the ruling. In 2020 it passed a law requiring asylum seekers to make a “declaration of intent” at a Hungarian embassy in a non-EU country before entering the country.
As a result, almost no one can claim asylum in Hungary: authorities received just 30 applications in 2023. In comparison, Cyprus, with a population 10 times smaller, received 12,000 applications that year, according to the EU Agency for Asylum.
In its latest ruling, the court said Hungary’s 2020 migration law was in breach of EU asylum law and the underlying Geneva conventions that guarantee the rights of refugees, including non refoulement, not being returned to danger.
The court identified other ways Hungary failed to comply with EU law: the “unlawful removal” of people denied asylum without observing safeguards, as well as not allowing people refused the right to asylum to stay in Hungary pending an appeal.
Hungary’s non-compliance with EU law “undermines in a particularly serious manner” the rights of non-EU nationals and stateless people by making it impossible for them to make an application at the border, the court concluded.
Judges also criticised Hungary’s decision that it would not comply with the 2020 ruling until it had received a verdict from its national constitutional court, a profound challenge to the supremacy of EU law that Budapest agreed on entering the bloc.
Hungary’s conduct had the effect, the court said, of transferring to other EU member states the responsibility and financial costs of managing asylum applications. As such, Hungary “seriously undermines the principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility”, the court said.
The reference to an “unprecedented” breach of EU law is understood to stem from Hungary’s implacable refusal to amend its policy after the 2020 ruling, and is reflected in the fine.
Daniel Freund, a German Green MEP and fierce critic of the Hungarian government, said the judgment made Orbán “the most expensive prime minister in Hungarian history”.
The European court of justice in Luxembourg also ordered Budapest to pay €1m a day until it complies with EU laws guaranteeing refugees the right to claim asylum inside Hungarian borders.
In a major judgment issued on Thursday, the court said Hungary had shown “deliberate evasion” in applying EU policy, which it described as “an unprecedented and exceptionally serious infringement of EU law” and “a significant threat to the unity of EU law and to the principle of equality of the member states”.
The fine was higher than sought by the European Commission, the EU executive, which took Hungary to the Luxembourg court. Judges also identified “aggravating circumstances”, including the repeat behaviour that contributed to the severity of the fine.
Responding to the judgment, the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, described the court’s ruling as “outrageous and unacceptable”, adding: “It seems that illegal migrants are more important to the Brussels bureaucrats than their own European citizens.”
The legal ruling comes less than three weeks before the Hungarian government takes charge of the rotating presidency of the EU council of ministers. It highlights the profound challenge to the bloc posed by anti-EU, nationalist leaders at a time when far-right forces made advances in European elections in France, Germany and Austria, and are expected to join the government in the Netherlands.
The judgment relates to a 2020 ruling that found Hungary had broken EU migration law by limiting the rights of refugees and migrants to claim asylum in numerous ways, including by holding asylum seekers in transit camps at Röszke and Tompa on its border with Serbia.
Hungary closed the container camps and argued it had complied with the ruling. In 2020 it passed a law requiring asylum seekers to make a “declaration of intent” at a Hungarian embassy in a non-EU country before entering the country.
As a result, almost no one can claim asylum in Hungary: authorities received just 30 applications in 2023. In comparison, Cyprus, with a population 10 times smaller, received 12,000 applications that year, according to the EU Agency for Asylum.
In its latest ruling, the court said Hungary’s 2020 migration law was in breach of EU asylum law and the underlying Geneva conventions that guarantee the rights of refugees, including non refoulement, not being returned to danger.
The court identified other ways Hungary failed to comply with EU law: the “unlawful removal” of people denied asylum without observing safeguards, as well as not allowing people refused the right to asylum to stay in Hungary pending an appeal.
Hungary’s non-compliance with EU law “undermines in a particularly serious manner” the rights of non-EU nationals and stateless people by making it impossible for them to make an application at the border, the court concluded.
Judges also criticised Hungary’s decision that it would not comply with the 2020 ruling until it had received a verdict from its national constitutional court, a profound challenge to the supremacy of EU law that Budapest agreed on entering the bloc.
Hungary’s conduct had the effect, the court said, of transferring to other EU member states the responsibility and financial costs of managing asylum applications. As such, Hungary “seriously undermines the principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility”, the court said.
The reference to an “unprecedented” breach of EU law is understood to stem from Hungary’s implacable refusal to amend its policy after the 2020 ruling, and is reflected in the fine.
Daniel Freund, a German Green MEP and fierce critic of the Hungarian government, said the judgment made Orbán “the most expensive prime minister in Hungarian history”.
