Q: What is the Council of Europe and is it related to the European Union?

A: The Council of Europe (CoE) is not a part of the European Union and is often confused with an EU body with a similar name, the European Council. The CoE, including 47 countries, has far more member states and is not based on economic and political integration like the EU. It’s worth noting that many CoE member states are not EU members because they would likely not meet the EU’s Copenhagen Criteria of 1993, which addresses things like democracy, the rule of law and human rights.

Q: Is there a political factor in this initiative?

A: Clear indications suggest a highly political bias in the initiative. One of the co-rapporteurs of the document, Ms. Jana Fischerová, resigned from her rapporteur position saying that the report is seriously politically biased. Over the weekend, in an interview in Népszabadság, Hungary’s leading opposition-leaning daily newspaper, Ms. Fischerová explained: “I find the evaluation of the Hungarian situation unbalanced…I told my colleague [co-rapporteur, Kerstin Lundgren, member of the liberal Centre Party in Sweden] that some of the points she suggests are not enforced in other member states [like Finland and the Czech Republic] of the Council of Europe. (…) Political criticism has to be clearly separated from assuming constitutionalism is at stake.”

CDU representative Axel Fischer has said that the document was “politically motivated,” criticizing both the method and the outcome of the report. According to Andras Giro-Szasz, spokesperson of the Hungarian government, in the very close vote, only the liberal, socialist and green party representatives voted in favor of the decision.

Q: What is the goal of such a monitoring mission anyway? What does it mean?

A: The original goal of the CoE monitoring procedure is to assess the rule of law, democracy and human rights situation in a country, usually when that country is applying for CoE membership. In other words, this is a research mission. It’s a little unusual that a monitoring procedure is started with regard to a country that is a member of the EU, but a number of sources, influential socialist and liberal leadership, have raised questions. The goal of such a mission – if it wins the vote at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), and that’s a big if – would be to answer these questions raised. Hungary’s position is that, for those who ready to take a reasonable look at the facts, it will be “case closed.”

Q: Does this mean that democracy in Hungary will be monitored? When?

A: Not yet. The Monitoring Committee simply accepted a request, a document entitled, “Request for the opening of a monitoring procedure in respect of Hungary.” By accepting, the Monitoring Committee – by a narrow vote of 21 to 20, where only half of the voting members were present – agreed to put the matter on the agenda of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE). After such narrow passage and clear indications of a political bias in the motion, it will have a difficult time getting approval from PACE.

Q: Will Hungary allow the monitoring mission to evaluate democracy in Hungary?

A: If the initiative somehow does win the approval of PACE, and even though it is highly unusual that a monitoring mission is initiated in a country that has long been a member of the CoE, we are happy to help the work of any research mission that aims to carry out a fact-based report on the legislation passed by the Hungarian parliament. “We are happy to see their monitoring work,” said Prime Minister Orbán, “after all there’s a lot they can learn from us.”

Source: A Blog About Hungary by Ferenc Kumin