The European Commission will deduct a €200 million fine, imposed by the European Court of Justice, from subsidies allocated to Hungary.
Budapest was found guilty this summer of a “unprecedented and extremely serious” breach of European asylum legislation and refuses to pay the fine.
On 13 June, the Court ruled against Hungary for not allowing third-country nationals entering the country through the Serbian border to apply for asylum. Budapest had ignored an earlier ruling from 2020 which, the Luxembourg-based judges said, meant Hungarian authorities were shifting responsibility onto other EU Member States.
Due to this “unprecedented and extremely serious breach of EU legislation,” Hungary was fined €200 million. Each day Hungary continues to violate European asylum legislation, an additional €1 million penalty will be added.
The European Commission confirmed on Wednesday that Budapest had missed the deadline to pay the fine on Tuesday. This means the Commission will now initiate the procedure to deduct the €200 million from future payments from the EU budget to Hungary, spokesperson Balazs Ujvari said.
The Commission is assessing which payments are eligible and whether the sum will be deducted in one lump sum or in instalments.
Regarding the €1 million-a-day penalty, Hungary missed the deadline to respond on whether it had resolved the identified issue. The Commission has now issued an initial payment request for the period from 13 June to 13 September. Hungary has 45 days to transfer the €93 million owed.
