BUDAPEST, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Hungarian government will be contesting the European Parliament vote on the so-called Sargentini report at the European Court of Justice (ECJ), arguing that the vote condemning Hungary for the non respect of EU values has been conducted in an irregular manner, the government said Tuesday in a statement.
"The government will be contesting the European Parliament vote on the Sargentini Report at the European Court of Justice in view of the fact that a two-thirds majority was achieved by ignoring the votes in abstention, in violation of the Treaty of Lisbon," it said.
With the adoption of the Sargentini report on Sept. 12, the European Parliament backed a resolution calling on European Union (EU) member states to trigger Article 7 procedures against Hungary in order to prevent the risk of a "serious breach of European values".
Judith Sargentini, a Dutch politician, is a member of the European Parliament in the GreenLeft, which is part of the European Green Party. In 2017, she was appointed by the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs as the rapporteur to examine launching the proceedings of the Article against Hungary.
The Sargentini report enumerates a number of concerns concerning the rule of law in Hungary, its electoral system, changed without the approval of the opposition parties, the independence of the judiciary, as well as the rights of minorities and asylum-seekers and issues connected with equal opportunity.
The report gathered its findings from independent experts but also listened to the opinion of the Hungarian government.
Although the Hungarian government said the report was created because of the conflict of the Hungarian government with the EU regarding the handling of the migration crisis, the report is listing a much wider variety of concerns.
This is the first time the European Parliament has taken the initiative on Article 7, which was only triggered once against Poland by the European Commission in December 2017.
Adopted by 448 votes in favor and 197 against, with 48 abstentions, the legislative resolution received the necessary absolute majority of 397 votes for adoption, and just succeeded in reaching a second requirement of two thirds of the total votes cast.
But the Hungarian government argues that the basic treaty of the European Union is extremely clear, stating that two-thirds of the votes cast are required to enable the launching of Article 7 proceedings. Since this majority was not achieved, the result was determined incorrectly and there is no need to conduct the proceedings, it said.
"Based on the Parliament's regulations, votes in abstention may be ignored during the course of normal voting, but this rule cannot be followed with relation to special proceedings," according to the Hungarian government.
Article 7 of the EU treaty is a mechanism for the EU to steer wayward members back towards the values on which the EU was founded, including respect for freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
If a member state is seen as being at risk of breaching these values, EU institutions, including the European Parliament, can recommend triggering a process that can ultimately end with the suspension of a government's voting rights.
This sanction requires a unanimous decision of the heads of states and governments of the EU. And Poland, Hungary's ally, has already said it would veto any sanctions against Hungary.
