HUNGARY : BUDAPEST SENDS INFRINGEMENT RESPONSE ON TIME.

Hungary has responded to three formal letters from the European Commission concerning its new laws on the independence of its central bank, the retirement age for judges and public prosecutors, and the Hungarian data protection authority. The Commission has launched three accelerated infraction procedures against the laws, which were part of the new Hungarian constitution that came into force at the start of this year. Budapest has now met the deadline for responding to the formal letters, sending a 100-page document to the Commission, on 17 February.

According to a European source, the Hungarian government has not only sent observations and comments, but it has also formulated concrete proposals for reforming certain elements of the laws concerned. Budapest will now wait for the Commission's official response to its replies before making a final decision and submitting all proposed amendments to the Hungarian parliament for adoption. Budapest will also have to send any proposal regarding the law on its central bank to the European Central Bank before submitting it to the Hungarian parliament.

"We are treating this as an urgent issue," said a Commission spokesperson just hours before Hungary made an official announcement that it had replied to the Commission's letters with some 100 pages of detailed information in Hungarian.

The Commission must now translate the document before it can embark on a legal analysis. "This analysis will allow us to decide on the next steps," added the spokesperson.

If the Commission finds Budapest's responses unsatisfactory, it will send one or several opinions to the Hungarian government. The last resort would be to refer the matter to the EU Court of Justice.

ANSWERS

Regarding the issue of the independence of the central bank, the Hungarian government is not in favour of changing the way the governor of the central bank is sworn in to the constitution. Yet this is something the European Commission takes issue with. "On the central bank, we agree on all issues except one," Hungarian Prime...

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