Prague, May 21 (CTK) – European Commissioner Vera Jourova, who represents the Czech Republic in the EC, supports the principle according to which member states would receive money from the EU budget provided that they observe the rule of law, she said at the conference Challenges for Europe in Prague on Monday.
The EU draft budget framework for 2021-27 presented by the European Commission includes this principle.
The strongest opponent of this principle is Poland, which has a long-term dispute with the EC over violation of EU standards on rule of law. The EC has also been critical of Hungary over its rule of law issues.
Jourova said she considers this a minimum that the tax payers who contribute to the EU budget will require from the countries that receive money from the budget. The countries that reject this condition should guarantee this minimum, she added.
Jourova criticised the Polish reform of the judiciary. She said the Polish government tried to gain control over the judiciary.
She said the Visegrad Four (V4) is a good alliance that has always made Czechs stronger, but she rejected false solidarity in cases when somebody violates rule of law or freedom.
The V4 group comprises the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.
