Cannabis, EU Court against Hungary: “It has violated the principle of loyal cooperation”

Brussels – Once the EU has reached a common position on a given issue, it is not possible to vote against it and issue statements to the contrary. Doing so would violate the principle of loyal cooperation and the prerogatives of the European Commission. This has been established by the European Court of Justice, which, in a  ruling, has condemned Hungary for its actions.

Subject of the dispute debated in Luxembourg, the decision adopted by the Council of the EU in November 2020 on the common position to be adopted on behalf of the European Union at the forthcoming session of the
United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs. This decision was not welcomed by the Hungarian delegation, which voted against the recommendations. In doing so, the Court of Justice of the EU explained, “Hungary has failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law.”

Under EU law, the Luxembourg body points out, the adoption of a position to be taken by Member States on behalf of the Union in relation to decisions to be taken at the international level “falls within the exclusive competence of the Union,” a competence which Hungary has infringed in the present case by acting as it has done.

At the EU level, there is also the principle of loyal cooperation, according to which “Member States are required to facilitate” the Union in the fulfilment of its tasks and, to this end, “refrain from any measure which could jeopardise the achievement of the common objectives. Hungary, on the contrary, by voting against a common position of the Council within an international body, “has compromised this principle, as well as the principle of unity” in the international representation of the Union and its Member States. Furthermore, distancing itself from the common strategy developed within the Council “weakens the Union’s negotiating power vis-à-vis the other parties to the convention.”

Once again, therefore, Viktor Orban’s Hungary stands out for its political and institutional clash with the EU and its institutions. Wrongly so. Hungary was condemned for its actions and ordered to pay legal costs.