Today, S&D MEPs co-signed a letter to the president of the Commission von der Leyen calling on her to reject the Hungarian government’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) as the rule of law is still seriously undermined in Hungary. According to the MEPs, the selection and the territorial distribution of the measures included in the Plan could lead to favouritism, nepotism, fraud and corruption.

This letter to the president of the Commission is the joint result of the work of S&D MEPs and representatives of other political groups in the European Parliament deeply worried by the situation in Hungary, and the attitude of the Orbán government towards fundamental values and the best financial interests of Hungarians and any other EU citizens. 

Eider Gardiazabal MEP, S&D spokeswoman for budget, said:

“This is not a letter against the Hungarian people, no matter what the Orbán propaganda might say. We are deeply concerned by the degradation of the rule of law in this member state ever since the Fidesz government came to power. For the last ten years, there has been an alarming regress in the independence of the judiciary, in the fight against corruption. Besides, the decision-making question and the competition in public procurement also raise a lot of questions. As we say in our letter to president von der Leyen, respect of the rule of law and sound financial management are key components of successful recovery in Europe. Citizens must be fully assured that taxpayers’ money is invested properly and not used to undermine the foundations of the EU. In this sense, the Recovery and Resilience Plan, presented by the government in Budapest, does not reflect this, and should be rejected.”