Letter to President Metsola
Dear President Metsola,
We, the undersigned Members of the European Parliament, are writing to you today to take action without a delay to launch a process, in line with Rule 89(1)(b) of the Rules of Procedure, to vote on a proposal calling on the Commission or the Member States to submit a proposal under Article 7(2) of the Treaty on European Union on Hungary.
Starting the process under Article 7(2) TEU marks the first step to determine the existence of a serious and persistent breach of EU values. Upon confirming such a breach, it enables the Member States to proceed to the second step under the Article 7(3) TEU, potentially resulting in the suspension of specific membership rights of Hungary, including voting rights in the Council.
We believe that this action is necessary to protect the values of the European Union, which are enshrined in the Treaty on European Union. Hungary has been repeatedly criticized for its erosion of the Rule of Law, and especially after Hungary’s actions to disrupt the decision-making of the Member States in the December EUCO, we believe that the time has come for the European Parliament to take action.
Our main task is to protect the European way of life and democracy. As a result, the European Parliament has a longstanding and proud history of defending the Rule of Law. We have been at the forefront of institutions advocating for the implementation of the Article 7(1) TEU procedure, ongoing since 2018, which has already identified a clear risk of a serious breach of EU values in Hungary.
We have also strongly supported the work of the European Commission, particularly in the context of the Conditionality Regulation, and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Both entities have played crucial roles in upholding the Rule of Law in the European Union.
In launching the Article 7(2) TEU procedure against Hungary, the European Union would be sending a clear message to Hungary that its actions are unacceptable. It would also be sending a message to all Member States that the European Union will not tolerate any backsliding on the Rule of Law or disrupting the principle of sincere cooperation, as enshrined in the Treaties.
We believe that launching the Article 7(2) and 7(3) TEU procedures is the only way to protect the values of the European Union and ensure the functioning of decision-making processes in the European Union.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
SARVAMAA Petri, EPP, Finland
BERENDSEN Tom, EPP, Netherlands
CARVALHO Maria, EPP, Portugal
CLUNE Deirdre, EPP, Ireland
COELHO Carlos, EPP, Portugal
DUEPONT Lena, EPP, Germany
FERNANDES Jose Manuel, EPP, Portugal
FITZGERALD Frances, EPP, Ireland
HAGA Anja, EPP, Netherlands
HOHLMEIER Monika, EPP, Germany
JUKNEVICIENE Rasa, EPP, Lithuania
KANEV Radan, EPP, Bulgaria
KARAS Othmar, EPP, Austria
KELLY Sean , EPP, Ireland
KUBILIUS Andrius, EPP, Lithuania
LEGA David, EPP, Sweden
LENAERS Jeroen, EPP, Netherlands
LUTGEN Benoit, EPP, Belgium
MALDEIKIENE Ausra, EPP, Lithuania
MARKEY Colm, EPP, Ireland
MAZYLIS Liudas, EPP, Lithuania
MONTEIRO DE AGUIAR Claudia, EPP, Portugal
NOVAK Ljudmila, EPP, Slovenia
PEREIRA Lidia, EPP, Portugal
PIETIKÄINEN Sirpa, EPP, Finland
RANGEL Paulo, EPP, Portugal
SPYRAKI Maria, EPP, Greece
STAVROU Eleni, EPP, Cyprus
TERRAS Riho, EPP, Estonia
VAIDERE Inese , EPP, Latvia
VERHEYEN Sabine, EPP, Germany
VIRKKUNEN Henna, EPP, Finland
WALSH Maria, EPP, Ireland
WEISS Pernille, EPP, Denmark
BENIFEI Brando, S&D, Italy
BIEDRON Robert, S&D, Poland
BIELOWSKI Theresa, S&D, Austria
ENGERER Cyrus, S&D, Malta
FUGLSANG Niels, S&D, Denmark
GUILLAUME Sylvie, S&D, France
HEINÄLUOMA Eero, S&D, Finland
KALJURAND Marina, S&D, Estonia
KOHUT Lukasz, S&D, Poland
KUMPULA-NATRI Miapetra, S&D, Finland
LARROUTUROU Pierre , S&D, France
LAURETI Camilla, S&D, Italy
NEMEC Matjaz, S&D, Slovenia
PICIERNO Pina, S&D, Italy
REUTEN Thijs , S&D, Netherlands
SCHALDEMOSE Christel, S&D, Denmark
VARIATI Achille, S&D, Italy
VIND Marianne, S&D, Denmark
WOLTERS Lara, S&D, Netherlands
AL-SAHLANI Abir, Renew, Sweden
ANDREWS Barry, Renew, Ireland
ANSIP Andrus, Renew, Estonia
AUSTREVICIUS Petras, Renew, Lithuania
BIJOUX Stephane, Renew, France
BRUNET Sylvie, Renew, France
CHABAUD Catherine, Renew, France
CHRISTENSEN Asger, Renew, Denmark
CICUREL Ilana, Renew, France
DURIS NICHOLSONOVA Lucia, Renew, Slovakia
FARRENG Laurence, Renew, France
GHEORGHE Vlad, Renew, Romania
GLÜCK Andreas, Renew, Germany
GOERENS Charles, Renew, Luxembourg
GOZI Sandro, Renew, France
GROSELJ Klemen, Renew, Slovenia
GUETTA Bernard, Renew, France
HAHN Svenja, Renew, Germany
HAYER Valerie, Renew, France
IN’T VELD Sophie, Renew, Netherlands
JOVEVA Irena, Renew, Slovenia
KARLSBRO Karin, Renew, Sweden
KATAINEN Elsi, Renew, Finland
KAUCH Michael, Renew, Germany
KELLER Fabienne, Renew, France
KYRTSOS Georgios, Renew, Greece
KÖRNER Moritz , Renew, Germany
LOKKEGAARD Morten, Renew, Denmark
MELCHIOR Karen, Renew, Denmark
MIHAL Jozef, Renew, Slovakia
OETJEN Jan-Cristoph, Renew, Germany
ORVILLE Max, Renew, France
PEKKARINEN Mauri, Renew, Finland
PETERSEN Morten, Renew, Denmark
POULSEN Erik, Renew, Denmark
RASMUSSEN Bergur Lokke, Renew, Denmark
STRUGARIU Ramona-Victoria, Renew, Romania
THUN UND HOHENSTEIN Roza, Renew, Poland
TORVALDS Nils, Renew, Finland
TUDORACHE Ioan-Dragos, Renew, Romania
VAUTMANS Hilde, Renew, Belgium
VEDRENNE Marie-Pierre, Renew, France
VERHOFSTADT Guy, Renew, Belgium
WIESNER Emma, Renew, Sweden
YENBOU Salima, Renew, France
YON-COURTIN Stephanie, Renew, France
ALAMETSÄ Alviina, Greens/EFA, Finland
ANDERSEN Rasmus, Greens/EFA, Germany
AUKEN Margrete, Greens/EFA, Denmark
BAH KUHNKE Alice, Greens/EFA, Sweden
BITEAU Benoit, Greens/EFA, France
BOESELAGER Damian, Greens/EFA, Germany
BÜTIKOFER Reinhard, Greens/EFA, Germany
DALUNDE Jakop, Greens/EFA, Sweden
EICKHOUT Bas, Greens/EFA, Netherlands
FREUND Daniel, Greens/EFA, Germany
GALLEE Malte, Greens/EFA, Germany
GREGOROVA Marketa, Greens/EFA, Czechia
HAUTALA Heidi, Greens/EFA, Finland
HOLMGREN Pär, Greens/EFA, Sweden
MARQUARDT Erik, Greens/EFA, Germany
METZ Tilly, Greens/EFA, Luxembourg
NIINISTÖ Ville, Greens/EFA, Finland
PEKSA Mikulas, Greens/EFA, Czechia
ROPE Bronis, Greens/EFA, Lithuania
STEFANUTA Nicolae, Greens/EFA, Romania
STRIK Tineke, Greens/EFA, Netherlands
VAN SPARRENTAK Kim, Greens/EFA, Netherlands
VON CRAMON-TAUBADEL Viola, Greens/EFA, Germany
BJÖRK Malin, The Left, Sweden
MODIG Silvia , The Left, Finland
VILLUMSEN Nikolaj, The Left, Denmark
RUOHONEN-LERNER Pirkko, ECR, Finland
PIGNEDOLI Sabrina, NI, Italy
CASTALDO Fabio Massimo , NI, Italy
