Court of Justice

Bulgaria will have to comply with the Istanbul Convention, even if it has not ratified it, if it is approved by the EU Council, according to the European Commission.

The European Parliament is expected to approve its ratification at its plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

The Hungarian parliament adopted on Wednesday a legal amendment aimed at strengthening the independence of the judicial system, at the suggestion of the right-wing government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, DPA reported.

Environmental groups are calling on the government to withdraw a bill tabled in Parliament last month which they say will gradually dismantle the protection of Natura 2000 sites.

The European Commission today called on Bulgaria and 13 other EU countries to reduce air pollution. The others affected are Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Sweden.

Blackmail as policy

Orban also promised he would prevent any pro-migration regulations in the EU, even at the level of recommendations, and underlined his government's belief in the traditional family model, comprised of a man and a woman. Bolsonaro, in return, praised Orban and said the values of his government - God, fatherland, family, freedom - make Hungary a model for Brazil.

But Warsaw is flexing its muscles to lash out against the EU more generally. The PiS government has rejected the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on its reforms of the judiciary. And Warsaw refuses to pay the penalties imposed by the CJEU, which to date amount to over 130 million euros.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (WEU) weighed in heavily for the LARCO case. According to today's decision, Greece is obliged to pay a lump sum of 5.5 million euros and a fine of more than 4 million euros per half-year of delay, because it did not recover the state aid of 160 million euros granted to the nickel industry.

The history

A leading environmental activist in Romania, Octavian Berceanu, told BIRN on Friday that Romanian authorities do not want to collect accurate data on the amount of air pollution in the country because sanctions would be triggered. 

Today, the legal service of the European Parliament filed an appeal with the Court of Justice at the request of President David Sassoli, said the spokesperson of the EU Parliament.