The European Commission continues to share many of the concerns expressed by the European Parliament in its 2018 reasoned proposal triggering the Article 7 procedure against Hungary, the European Commissioner for democracy, justice and the rule of law said in Strasbourg on November 24, state news agency MTI reports on November 24.

In his address during a debate at the European Parliament, Michael McGrath noted that the EC regularly expresses its concerns regarding Hungary in its annual Rule of Law Reports. The Council has so far held nine formal hearings on Hungary, adding that "there has been no progress" on most of the concerns.

The Commission has suspended around €18bn in EU funds under various mechanisms, including the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the conditionality regime, of which €1bn has already been lost for good, he added.

During the debate, Green MEP Tineke Strik, the Parliament’s rapporteur on Hungary, said the country had continued and increased its violations of EU values, citing concerns over judicial independence, rule-by-decree, corruption, media freedom and LGBTQ rights, describing Hungary as a "hybrid regime of electoral autocracy."

Democratic Coalition MEP Klara Dobrev said government control had eroded checks and balances, subordinated public administration to the prime minister and replaced market competition with "a political mafia and corruption."

Fidesz MEP Kinga Gal said Hungary had been subjected to a 15-year witch hunt based on accusations from activist NGOs, arguing that Hungary was being targeted for defending national interests, rejecting illegal migration, gender ideology, and Ukraine’s fast-tracked EU accession

Csaba Domotor from the Fidesz faction said the EP drafted a report to discredit Hungary ahead of every general election. He said the procedures against Hungary "have nothing to do with the rule of law", but were just meant to put pressure on the country, adding that Hungary's answer would come from the election.

The Article 7 procedure was initiated against Hungary in 2018 in the Sargentini report, which accused Viktor Orban's government of posing a "systemic threat" to the EU's fundamental principles.

Dubbed as the "nuclear option" of EU law, it allows the Council to suspend certain rights of the member state, including its voting rights, but requires a unanimous vote of all member states in the European Council.

According to an earlier report by investigative news site Vsquare, the Hungarian government has grown increasingly anxious over the EU’s Article 7 procedure, which could ultimately suspend Hungary’s voting rights in the European Council over rule-of-law concerns. Sources close to the government told the outlet that Prime Minister Viktor Orban no longer treats the process as a mere political dispute with Brussels but as a genuine threat.

The prime minister is fearful that the opposition party Tisza Party could frame the 2026 elections as a de facto referendum on Hungary’s EU membership if the procedure advances to the stage of suspending voting rights, reinforcing perceptions that Hungary is being pushed out of the EU under Orban’s leadership.