Suspension of rights under Article 7 requires unanimous approval of all 720 members of the European Parliament. It’s pretty much impossible to actually apply.
Edit: 698, obviously hungary is excluded.
Sanctions require only a 2/3s majority, and that’s proven to be incredibly difficult, as plenty of MEPs will see that one country being punished for their actions might lead to them being punished too.
This is not how I understand the requirements. As by a direct quote from an official EU website:
Article 354 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union lays down the voting procedures to be used by the main EU institutions when a Member State faces the application of Article 7. The country in question does not take part in the vote. It is not included in the calculation of the one third of countries required for the proposal or the four fifths required for the majority. Parliament’s consent requires a two-thirds majority.
The 4/5th super majority referrs to the concil and the 2/3rd to the parliarment. These are high requirements, but that seems reasonable given the severity of the result.
That’s for the “preventative measures” clause, article 7(1). The sanctions under 7(2), require more, but it seems unanimity is only required in the Council:
The procedure starts with a proposal made by one third of EU member states or by the Commission. The European Council then obtains the European Parliament’s consent. Provided the European Council’s members agree unanimously, the European Council may then determine that a member state is seriously and persistently breaching the values of the EU.
If that happens, the Council can decide to suspend some of the rights that derive from application of the treaties to the member state in question, including its voting rights. That decision is taken by a qualified majority.
So, if Hungary was still under Orban, such a vote likely wouldn’t pass today, since Czechia is also in the Council under PfE.
But you’re right, it’s less ridiculous than I thought.
Suspension of rights under Article 7 requires unanimous approval of all
720members of the European Parliament. It’s pretty much impossible to actually apply.Edit: 698, obviously hungary is excluded.
Sanctions require only a 2/3s majority, and that’s proven to be incredibly difficult, as plenty of MEPs will see that one country being punished for their actions might lead to them being punished too.
This is not how I understand the requirements. As by a direct quote from an official EU website:
The 4/5th super majority referrs to the concil and the 2/3rd to the parliarment. These are high requirements, but that seems reasonable given the severity of the result.
That’s for the “preventative measures” clause, article 7(1). The sanctions under 7(2), require more, but it seems unanimity is only required in the Council:
So, if Hungary was still under Orban, such a vote likely wouldn’t pass today, since Czechia is also in the Council under PfE.
But you’re right, it’s less ridiculous than I thought.