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CONT European Parliament
Ihren Sitzungen folgenJulien Sanchez
Monsieur le Président, mes chers collègues, non simplement rappeler qu'il y a un rôle lorsqu'il y a une réunion des coordinateurs et lorsqu'il y a une décision des coordinateurs et qu'elle est adoptée à la majorité, elle est adoptée. Sinon à ce moment-là plus rien ne vaut et je crois que c'est un principe qui vaut pour chaque décision. Donc je suis assez étonné de voir que ça vaut pour certaines et pas pour d'autres.
En tout cas la décision a été prise par les coordinateurs à la majorité. Merci.
Andreas Schwab
No, are there any other comments? I, yeah, please Mr. Freund and Mr. Boeselager.
Daniel Freund
Well, I support the two colleagues that we need to vote on this. And I think there should at least be a very brief exchange so that colleagues actually know what we're voting on. So there should be a possibility, I don't want a long debate, but just to outline...
Andreas Schwab
But Mr. colleague, agenda point number four is exactly about this. So I have been kindly giving now the floor to my colleague under point number two on the adoption of the agenda. I have made clear when she intervened that that's not the right point. We wanted to come and I had put it on the agenda that this all been sent to you, adoption of coordinators' decisions. And here it's the point, so it's one second too far, but you should not be scared, you should just read the notes of coordinators and the invitation to the committee and then you see that what you ask for is already in the document.
Over to you Mr. Boeselager.
Arno Bausemer
Ja, vielen Dank, ich habe gerade so ein kleines Déjà-vu, denn wir hatten so eine ähnliche Diskussion schon mal vor ein paar Monaten, als es um die Einsetzung einer Arbeitsgruppe zur NGO-Finanzierung ging. Ich muss mich da meinem Vor-Vorredner anschließen, ich finde das relativ undemokratisch hier zu versuchen, Entscheidungen im Koordinatorenmeeting hier im Ausschuss wieder auszuhebeln, deswegen werde ich auch gegen diesen Antrag stimmen.
Jonas Sjöstedt
Thank you Chair, I do support my colleagues from the Socialists and Democrats, from the Liberals and from the Greens. I think this deserves a more thorough discussion in committee. I think it's really about the credibility of the committee in the end to be able to scrutinize the Parliament itself and its groups when there are serious allegations of embezzlements. I would have preferred a procedure with amendments, possible amendments from the groups so we could actually improve this letter. Thank you.
Andreas Schwab
So, are there any other comments? If not, I come back to the agenda because under point number four of the agenda, which should have been probably been point number three, it's foreseen that the summary of coordinators' decisions from the meeting of the 24th of June was circulated to members. And we know and if there were a contestation and therefore we will schedule a vote on point three of the coordinators' decisions from the 24th of June. The vote will be held as the second vote during the voting session later this morning after the vote on the European Court of Auditors candidate. As a background, in accordance with rule 222, a contestation of the coordinators' decision needs to be announced when the decision is announced in committee and therefore this was absolutely right to announce it.
I have not foreseen a further discussion on the letter, but if you want to discuss the letter further, we will do that when the vote or just before the vote takes place. Okay? Thank you very much. Then we come to the agenda, item number four is the exchange of views with the Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy of the Verkhovna Rada from Ukraine. We have been scheduling this just before the summer break and we are very grateful to our colleagues from Ukraine to be available today.
I think this is important because discussions in Europe, discussions in Ukraine make it very helpful to have this exchange. We are pleased therefore to welcome key Ukrainian and European representatives working at the forefront of these issues, starting with Ms. Anastasiia Radina, she's the chair of the Anti-Corruption Policy at the Verkhovna Rada to whom I will now soon give the floor. Later we will hear from other colleagues that I will introduce then, but now over to you Anastasiia.
Anastasiia Radina
Dear colleagues, thank you very much for your initiative to have this exchange of opinions. We're always open and looking forward to it. I think it states the level of cooperation that we are currently having. And again, it is our honor and pleasure to be able to participate in it. Let me probably be very brief in my remarks for the sake of giving more opportunity to also representatives of anti-corruption related institutions of Ukraine that we whom we invited to participate in this format today.
So again, for the sake of briefness, let me just share this. Last year has been a huge challenge for Ukraine both on the in the in the relation of fighting against a stronger aggressor whom, by the way, recently we managed to attack with capabilities superior to their own. And at the same time, the last year has been trying in the aspect of promoting reforms in Ukraine. However, in general, as a government and as a society, we managed to strengthen our path of choice. And legislative framework for operation of anti-corruption institutions has been restored to the full.
And allegations as to cooperation with Russia again among anti-corruption institutions have also been proven wrong. So currently anti-corruption institutions of Ukraine are in the middle of investigating what is their most high-profile case as yet. I will probably leave it for them to describe their work, their findings, and most importantly, the steps they are taking to make sure that general governmental framework is not vulnerable to further corruption risks. We frequently ask a question from our colleagues and our counterparts in parliaments across the world, what do news of presenting, for example, notifications of suspicions in corruption-related cases to high-profile officials, what do these news mean? And let me say, in my opinion, these are good news, actually.
It is a sign that we finally succeeded after ten years of efforts in building institutions that uncover, investigate, and prosecute corruption-related crimes regardless of surnames or standing or political affiliation of people who might be subject to these allegations. So I think it is a also good sign that the era of untouchable people in Ukraine is gone, which is what any country aspiring to build a rule of law system is working on. And I think Ukraine is rightfully taking its place among countries with a established system of uncovering and investigating and prosecuting any corruption offenses. Now, let me say that as a committee, we follow activities of anti-corruption institutions of Ukraine very closely. And we also follow very closely and react to any possible obstacles to their activities.
In the meantime, our priority as anti-corruption committee currently is the work on anti-corruption strategy for the country for the next four years to come. We are committed to make sure that this strategy is not only not only comprehensive, but also fully reflects and includes all the benchmarks that we currently have under the fundamentals cluster of EU accession process. Let me also finish by kindly asking the moderator to allow NABU and SAPO share their speaking time. We have had a discussion on this earlier. I understand our time is limited, but here in this committee, we simply do not prioritize one institution over the other.
This is not something we can do. So let me kindly ask to let colleagues from NABU and SAPO share their speaking time. With this, I will stop for now. I will be very happy and my colleagues in the committee here will also be very happy to take any questions when we come to this slot on our agenda.
Andreas Schwab
Thank you very much, Anastasiia. So, thanks for also making sure that we can exchange on a broad ground of contributions. Following my agenda, now it's speaking Denys Gulmagomedov. And I hope that this is also in line with your plan. Is it fine?
Anastasiia Radina
Yes, just let representatives of SAPO, Madame Nadiia Polkhovskyi, join Denys Gulmagomedov in his speaking remarks. If it's okay, I can moderate it from our side.
Denys Gulmagomedov
Так, добрий день, шановні колеги. Гюльмагомедов Денис, Національне антикорупційне бюро. Я буду коротко, також дам слово своїм колегам доповнити мене про те, як ми моніторимо ефективність і прозорість використання коштів міжнародної допомоги, міжнародних партнерів. Національне антикорупційне бюро — це правоохоронний орган, основна діяльність якого спрямована на розслідування злочинів топ-корупції. Для нас є пріоритетним, в тому числі, звертати увагу на витрачання коштів міжнародних партнерів, але власне так само і бюджетних коштів, якщо це стосується великих сум контрактів.
В нашій діяльності ми можемо нашу діяльність умовно розділити на дві складові: це розслідування злочинів як таких і аналітична діяльність. Якщо ми говоримо про розслідування злочинів, детективом Національного антикорупційного бюро чітко доведені пріоритети у сферах, така як оборонна сфера, сфера енергетики, сфера відновлення, в яких найбільше витрачаються кошти міжнародних партнерів. Отже, розслідування, які стають стосуються коштів міжнародних партнерів або великих сум бюджетних коштів, вони є пріоритетними для Національного антикорупційного бюро. Ми фокусуємо в першу чергу увагу, в тому числі управлінського складу, на те, щоб забезпечувати ефективне, якісне, своєчасне розслідування. Водночас у нас є департамент управління аналітики.
Аналітики здійснюють проактивний аналіз програм, по яких надходять кошти міжнародних партнерів до українського державного бюджету. І наразі нами здійснюється ризик-аналіз, про який теж коротко керівник управління доповість саме про механізм, як ми здійснюємо ризик-аналіз. Але узагальнюючи, що ми аналізуємо програми, виявляємо найбільші ризики, які можуть стосуватися корупції у витраті коштів міжнародних партнерів, і додатково вже оцінюємо з точки зору наявності підстав розпочати розслідування. Якщо такі розслідування розпочинаються, як я вже говорив, що вони стають пріоритетними, ми забезпечуємо швидкий, ефективний контроль над досудовим розслідуванням таких кримінальних проваджень. Коротко попрошу ще доповнити Євгена Токаря — це наш керівник підрозділу організаційно-аналітичного забезпечення стосовно сфери пріоритетизації і Лобача Іллю як керівника аналітиків.
Добре, тоді Євген, прошу декілька слів про пріоритети. Дякую.
Yevhen Tokar
Вітаю, шановні учасники дискусії. Зазначу, що на сьогодні Національним бюро та іншими уповноваженими органами, які відповідають за моніторинг, відслідковування використання в Україні коштів міжнародних партнерів, здійснюється досить ефективна співпраця, на нашу думку. Зокрема, у нас налагоджена постійна регулярна співпраця з Державною аудиторською службою. Державна аудиторська служба регулярно направляє нам свої матеріали щодо виявлених порушень фінансової дисципліни, які можуть містити також відповідно ознаки зловживання в сфері використання коштів європейських партнерів. На сьогодні нами здійснюється п'ять кримінальних проваджень, в яких ми бачимо ознаки використання коштів міжнародних партнерів, і зокрема з цих кримінальних проваджень три кримінальних провадження, які безпосередньо стосуються використання, можливо неправомірного використання коштів Європейського Союзу.
Зазначені кримінальні провадження відповідно до політики Національного бюро визначені як високопріоритетні, здійснюється постійний контроль. І також для подальшого більш ефективного відслідковування подібних випадків ми вдосконалюємо як внутрішні обліки, щоби бачити ці всі кримінальні провадження і тримати їх на контролі, так і запропонували нашим колегам з Офісу Генерального прокурора вдосконалити облік на рівні Єдиного державного реєстру досудових розслідувань і запровадити додаткові ознаки обліку для того, щоб по всій країні можна було централізовано здійснювати відповідне відслідковування кримінальних проваджень, що стосується цього питання. Дякую за увагу.
Anastasiia Radina
And if I may, I will now invite Madame Nadiia Polkhovska, Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, to also add to what representatives of NABU said. Madame Nadiia, please.
Nadiia Polkhovska
Okay, thank you. Thank you for the time. I try to briefly represent the SAPO in our key achievements in this sphere. SAPO is the prosecution body which is responsible for supervising the NABU cases and support the public prosecution in the High Anti-Corruption Court of all the NABU cases. And in that field, we invite, we like, including in the early stage of every of investigation of NABU, and that's why we are like deeply informed about all the cases which is now in progress in NABU is.
So what important I want to mention that SAPO is the contact point from European Public Prosecution Office here in Ukraine, and we strongly collaborate with EPPO and exchange the regular the information of any risks and information that we have. Also we working together to like set up the system with identify in early stage some volunteers with EU funds or from other kind of funds who income to Ukraine for direct financing for some project which is financing by European Union or other international partners.
Because now we see the the full track record is in progress now in Ukraine because we have the more than 300 of final verdicts in High Anti-Corruption Court which related with top officials and it's not just some regular officials here in Ukraine and most of them are prison sentenced people so it means that track record here in Ukraine is fully developed as I think but in if we talking about EU funds and effectiveness of anti-corruption bodies mostly of all these cases needs to have the forensic expertise conclusion from the experts here in Ukraine. That's why one of the important requirement from EU pass to Ukraine is to establish forensic institution and for us it's crucial to as soon as possible has the some current steps to establish this forensic institution especially independence with the package of strong guarantees to experts and to leadership of this institution. And two important field with which I want to mention is the authority head of SAPO because in these cases we have to be strong to collaborate with international institutions and to set up the the mutual legal teams to investigate these cases with prosecutors from other law enforcement outside of Ukraine and investigation investigators as well. So it's important to add to criminal procedure code the obligation of the the provisions to add the authority head of SAPO to start the mutual investigation teams and to send the extraditing request to international institutions international bodies law enforcement. So I thank you to Ukrainian Parliament and Ms. Radina which already registered the few of draft of laws about this field.
So thank you for that and I think it's important as soon as possible has this not just draft but voted laws about to this important points because it's important for anti-corruption institution to be effective in investigating in prosecuting criminal cases especially if we talking about EU funds. So thank you for that.
Anastasiia Radina
Dear colleagues I think I think we we are now ready to move with the agenda.
Andreas Schwab
So next speaker on our list will be Mr. Notsar if I understand it correctly.
Wolfgang Nozar
Yes good morning. I'm from the European Commission in charge of the accession negotiations with Ukraine on what we call the fundamentals cluster. The fundamentals cluster last month in Luxembourg was opened as the first negotiating cluster. It contains sort of the the crucial elements the values of the EU rule of law fight against corruption fundamental rights. So this is a major milestone in the accession negotiations with Ukraine and it shows the progress that has been made in the country despite the difficult circumstances with the ongoing war.
Another step in the accession negotiations is actually happening right now with the opening of the sixth negotiating cluster and from the Commission side we hope that also the remaining clusters can be opened as soon as possible.
With the opening of the fundamentals cluster, this is not the end of the process, it's actually just the beginning. And now it will be crucial that Ukraine delivers on its EU ambitions with continuing this ambitious reform agenda and delivering in particular on the interim benchmarks that have been set by the EU side for the rule of law chapters. A key element here, or a key player, is of course the Ukrainian Parliament, which will have to adopt a number of difficult legal reforms, so we count on all the members of Parliament to really live up to this EU accession ambition of Ukraine. Coming specifically to the fight against corruption, which is of course one of the main priorities for Ukraine's future, I can fully confirm what we just heard from the specialized anti-corruption institutions, from NABU and SAPO, and also the High Anti-Corruption Court, that indeed there have been excellent results over the recent years, and in particular during the last year. We have seen a number of high-level cases being investigated, and we are also seeing the Anti-Corruption Court delivering final convictions in high-profile cases, so this indeed is very encouraging.
At the same time, the situation of the anti-corruption institutions remains fragile to a certain degree. We have seen attacks on their independence in the past, so it will be essential to preserve this independence and strengthen their investigative capacities and also to expand their mandate to further consolidate their role. In addition, with these specialized anti-corruption agencies, we also need to have a look at the law enforcement sector more broadly. And here it's important from the Commission's side that also the so far unreformed agencies undergo in-depth reform. Current priority for us is the reform of the State Bureau of Investigation, which should take place during the rest of 2026, so that the new head can already be selected under the new rules.
In this regard, the temporary involvement of international experts in selection procedures has proved a very successful formula. It has helped depoliticizing the procedures, ensured transparency and meritocratic selection, leading to more effective and accountable results. So we want to see this continue for a certain period of time to make sure these reforms are really deep-rooted before we pass the baton back to the Ukrainian institutions on their own. Recent success stories on the involvement of international experts, we can for example name the Economic Security Bureau, where the new head was appointed through a competitive and transparent selection process, same for the Customs Services, and for the Asset Recovery and Management Agency, this process is still ongoing. In addition to chasing corruption after it has happened, it's also important to prevent it before it happens.
Ukraine has put in place a solid mechanism on lobbying and asset declarations, while the new law on public procurement also represents a step forward. However, provisions on conflict of interest, whistleblower protection, and verification of assets should be further strengthened. And as we have already heard from Mrs. Radina, the anti-corruption strategy is currently being discussed in the Parliament, and here we're looking forward to an ambitious strategy being adopted soon.
Allow me also to say a couple of words on the judiciary, which is closely linked to the anti-corruption efforts. Here we see good results were reached with the merit-based and internationally supported selection of two judges of the Constitutional Court and four members of the High Council of Justice. However, also judicial reform must continue with a focus on independence and integrity. And here renewing the international experts' mandate in the selection commission for the High Qualification Commission of Judges will be a key step alongside with the depoliticization of the role of the Prosecutor General. In terms of protecting the EU's financial interests, the State Audit Service has received broader powers to oversee procurement and the use of EU funds.
However, its capacity requires further strengthening. Ukraine also needs to urgently appoint the remaining members of the Accounting Chamber and ensure its functional autonomy. So overall, Ukraine needs a consistent and timely reform effort to adopt the necessary laws and maintain momentum following the opening of Cluster 1. Sustained broad political consensus is crucial for this going forward. All political actors need to work together and the Parliament has a particular responsibility to help drive forward the reform agenda in support of Ukraine's EU path.
From the Commission side, we stand of course ready to further support these efforts. Thank you.
Andreas Schwab
Thank you very much, Mr. Nozsar, for this overview from the side of the European Commission. And we come now to Mr. Resch, who gets the floor for the presentation on Europol's role in fighting corruption and the cooperation with Ukraine. Over to you.
Alexander Resch
Yeah. Very good morning. First of all, thank you very much for having Europol here in this important meeting. I've prepared a few slides and I would like to walk through these slides, starting with a brief introduction on Europol, what we are doing, what is our mandate in helping the member states but also third countries like the Ukraine in preventing and combating corruption and then also zooming in into our corruption with the Ukraine in more detail. On the next slide, you will see that analysis is our core business.
So we do help member states and third countries in their criminal investigation. They provide cases to us. There is no obligation, but they can do, they can share their high-profile investigations, cross-border investigations with us. And we try to help them with our capabilities, which could be quite different. But our aim is to enrich the investigation, to identify cross-border links and to serve the countries with our capabilities.
Operations is our key business. So we do support criminal investigations that are led by the EU member states. We do not have coercive powers, but we try to help as good as possible the competent authorities in the member states and third countries. People hub. We are hosting at Europol's headquarters liaison offices and desks of 50 plus countries.
That means not only the 27 EU member states are represented with their colleagues in our headquarters, but also 30 plus third countries, including the Ukraine, having deployed officers to our headquarters, which ensures seamless direct interaction and cooperation with the colleagues. Next slide. There is already a kind of history in cooperation with the Ukraine. Almost 10 years ago, a working arrangement has been established. That means the Ukraine cannot only use our secure communication channel SIENA, sharing information with all other 50 plus countries enrolled to this network, but they can also share information with us.
That means operational information, personal information, where we then look into our systems and databases if there is information we can give back to them.
Historically, the cooperation has been always very good with Ukraine and since the aggression of war even improved, especially in a number of crime areas, be it weapons trafficking, war crime investigations, but also the area of financial economic crime including corruption as I'm representing the dedicated center for this. Next slide. It was mentioned by the Ukraine colleagues, the close cooperation with the EPPO. This is also I would like to stress. When it comes to the so-called PIF directive, that means the directive for the protection of the EU funds, we do also support member states in any kind of this kind of investigation, be it VAT fraud, MTIC fraud, corruption, but we also do support EPPO and then of course we also have a dedicated team dealing with corruption investigations on a strategic and operational level.
Next slide. In terms of corruption, we have a broad mandate at Europol, that means we can support any corruption investigation in member states and third countries with which we have an operational agreement, be it corruption in the public and in the private sector, political corruption, grand corruption, corruption in public administration, even within law enforcement. This is one of our focuses right now as we also do see in a number of countries issues with corruption within law enforcement, within police, within customs, so this is also one of our key priorities. It was mentioned by the representative of the Commission, the EU anti-corruption strategy, which we are also supporting right now and we are also part of the EU network against corruption that has been set up as part of the European's anti-corruption package. Next slide.
In terms of our operational activities and capabilities, once we do receive information from the countries with entities, with information, our basis is to cross-check this information against our databases which contains millions of entities and information in order to identify links, to enrich the investigation, so this is our daily business. But of course it is also more if digital forensic support is needed, if crypto tracing is needed, this is what we are doing on a daily basis including in cases brought forward to us when it comes to corruption offenses. We are also still leveraging on datasets that has been shared with us from the encrypted communications Sky ECC and EncroChat where also a lot of corruptive activities has been found and this is what we are still leveraging today bearing in mind that this information already have been discovered years ago. Next slide. In terms of competent authorities in the Ukraine, we have a close good cooperation with the National Police of the Ukraine, the Ukraine State Bureau of Investigation, then of course also the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Ukraine which also paid a visit to Europol headquarters in March where we also had some fruitful discussion, but also with the ARMA, the Asset Recovery and Management Agency of the Ukraine, because at the end crime is always about money, so we also do support asset recovery offices in the countries to trace, identify, confiscate and recover the illicit proceeds of crime.
Next slide, just to give you one idea of a case example. That was an investigation led by Spanish colleagues.
That was a human trafficking investigation, money laundering, yeah, gambling, illegal gambling, where at that time mainly women from the Ukraine have been lured to travel to Spain. I mean, they have been brought to Spain in order to open bank accounts, gambling betting accounts for criminal organization also orchestrated by Ukrainian nationals. But then under false promises they did this. They thought they get asylum in Spain, but at the end they have been brought to the Ukraine. And we do support, we have supported Spanish colleagues in dismantling this organization and bringing justice to those who committed this crime on a very sophisticated level.
On the last slide, you will see also we run a dedicated sprint, it's called Project ASSET, the Asset Search and Seize Enforcement Task Force, where we brought together asset recovery specialists, financial investigators from 30 plus countries. That was in January last year. We did another sprint in May this year. And the Ukraine also participated. They have nominated high-value targets in which Europol and the other member states tried to identify assets.
And it was quite successful because also one of the targets nominated by the Ukraine, it was possible to identify millions of euro in another country from the Western Balkans that also joined this sprint. So this is a joint effort combining expertise, capabilities and the colleagues at Europol in order to help not only to target predicate offenses, but also to go for the money that has been generated by this kind of crimes. In case of any questions, I'm happy to address. Thank you very much.
Andreas Schwab
Thank you very much, Mr. Resch. This has been very helpful. And we come now to Ms. Pikhanska. You have the floor for your presentation on the measures aimed at protecting the financial interests of the European Union. Over to you.
Are you there? Are you online or?
Anastasiia Radina
No, no, Madame Pikhanska is here, so I'm passing the floor to her, please.
Olha Pishchanska
Вивести надану інформацію щодо нашої діяльності. Зовнішній фінансовий аудит є одним із ключових механізмів незалежного контролю за використанням коштів як державного бюджету України, так і коштів міжнародних партнерів. З 25-го року Рахункова палата працює в межах оновленої законодавчої рамки, яка посилила нашу незалежність і суттєво розширила повноваження як вищого органу аудиту. За цей час ми комплексно оновили методологічну базу відповідно до професійних документів INTOSAI, цифровізували аудиторські процеси і запровадили ризикоорієнтований підхід. І уже план 25-го року, у нас 26-го, перепрошую, план 26-го року у нас сформований на підставі ризикоорієнтованих підходів до планування.
Одним із ключових напрямів розвитку став фінансовий аудит консолідованої фінансової звітності суб'єктів господарювання об'єктів влади. Минулоріч затверджено дорожню карту впровадження фінансового аудиту консолідованої фінансової звітності суб'єктів державного сектору, а цьогоріч створено окремий підрозділ фінансового аудиту. Обсяг бюджетних призначень охоплених фінансовим аудитом у 25-му році зріс майже до 134 мільярдів гривень.
Також ми розширили співпрацю з нашими партнерами, вищими органами аудиту інших країн. В 25-му році ми охопили контролем понад 8 трильйонів гривень та виявили порушень і недоліків на 153,8 мільярдів гривень. Можна сказати, що найбільшу частку з них, 123 мільярди гривень, складають порушення, відхилення і недоліки, пов'язані з неналежним веденням бухгалтерського обліку та складанням фінансової звітності. І ми вважаємо, що тут якраз закладено високий корупційний ризик. Що стосується аудитів коштів міжнародних партнерів.
Одним із ключових напрямків Рахункової палати є аудит використання коштів міжнародних партнерів. Ми здійснюємо аудит реалізації державних політик і реформ, що фінансуються за рахунок міжнародної допомоги програм Ukraine Facility. В 25-му році ми завершили 17 аудитів, якими охопили 8 із 15 реформ плану. Цьогоріч затверджено вже звіти по 7 аудитам і до кінця року планується завершити ще 18. Окремі з цих аудитів стосувалися безпосередньо проектів і державних політик, що реалізуються за фінансової підтримки Європейського Союзу.
І саме на їх результатах я хочу зупинитися більш детально. Аудити охоплюють як окремі проекти, що фінансуються Європейським Союзом і міжнародними фінансовими інституціями, так і державні політики, які реалізуються за підтримки європейських партнерів. Наприклад, аудит Надзвичайної кредитної програми для відновлення, фінансується коштом ЄІБ, виявив недоліки у відборі субпроектів, порушення під час закупівель та недоліки звітування про їх реалізацію. Під час аудиту відновлення дорожньої інфраструктури, що охопив 2,2 мільярди гривень коштів ЄС та 9,1 мільярдів гривень, ми встановили, що відновлення мостів здійснювалося без визначеної пріоритетності із затримками фінансування, недостатнім рівнем цифровізації процесів та окремими порушеннями під час закупівель. Як наслідок, за 3,5 роки вдалося відновити лише близько третини зруйнованих мостів на підконтрольній Україні території.
Також ми проводили аудит державної підтримки сільськогосподарських товаровиробників. Це фінансувалося, зокрема, в межах Ukraine Facility. Серед недоліків — недостатня доступність програм для потенційних отримувачів та недоліки перевірці відповідності одержувачів установленим критеріям. Якщо говорити про узагальнені висновки, то ми можемо засвідчити про повторювані системні проблеми. Недосконале нормативне регулювання, недостатня ефективність контрольних механізмів, низький рівень цифровізації, обмежена інституційна спроможність та недоліки планування.
Також наші аудити засвідчують, що управлінські рішення не завжди ґрунтуються на повній, достовірній та своєчасній інформації. Як наслідок, реалізація реформ і державних програм затягується та не завжди забезпечує очікуваний результат. Одним із головних завдань, яке було поставлено Рахунковою палатою перед собою, — це продовження контролю не тільки на проведенні аудитів, а саме на виконання рекомендацій, які надала Рахункова палата. Тому що вся діяльність аудиторів впродовж процесу аудиту, в процесі підготовки звіту — це самі зміни в процесах, а відповідно це виконання рекомендацій. І якраз ми можемо засвідчити, що на сьогоднішній день збільшилася як кількість, так і якість виконання рекомендацій Рахункової палати.
Наприклад, у сфері гуманітарного розмінування змінено підходи до фінансування заходів: від компенсаційного механізму перейдено до відшкодування витрат, а також удосконалено порядок обстеження земельних ділянок для визначення потреб у розмінуванні. Після аудиту Надзвичайної кредитної програми для відновлення України переглянуто підходи до фінансування проектів: із планів виключено проекти, реалізація яких так і не почалася.
Натомість фінансування спрямовано на завершення вже розпочатих. Що стосується державної підтримки аграріїв, внесено зміни до законодавства, спрямовані на підвищення адресної підтримки та запобігання її концентрації серед пов'язаних осіб. Це було одним із головних висновків нашого аудиту. Також у нас продовжуються і є плани. У нас планується в цьому році ще аудит відповідності компенсація за знищене та пошкоджене війною житло, шлях від людини до держави.
Також впровадження інформаційної системи управління людськими ресурсами на державній службі. Ефективність функціонування муніципальної системи управління побутовими відходами у місті Львові. Нагадаю, що це кредитні та грантові кошти ЄБРР, а також кредит Європейського інвестиційного банку на реалізацію відповідних проєктів. І аудит діяльності на тему шкільний автобус, безпечний шлях до знань. Цей проєкт фінансується коштом Ukraine Facility.
Окрім коштів Європейського Союзу, ми на системній основі здійснюємо контроль використання ресурсів інших міжнародних фінансових інституцій та програм прикордонного співробітництва. Це стосується програм прикордонного співробітництва Європейського інструменту сусідства Interreg та Interreg Next. Минулого року аудитом охоплено понад 14 мільйонів євро, з яких 96,2 відсотки становили кошти Європейського Союзу. І за результатами перевірок виявлено порушення правил закупівлі та рекомендовано застосувати фінансові корекції на суму 208,4 євро. Незважаючи на те, що головним завданням Рахункової палати є перевірка процесів, в процесі проведення аудитів ми почасти стикаємося з наявними корупційними ризиками і діями, які мають ознаки кримінальних правопорушень.
В такому випадку Рахункова палата надає інформацію в правоохоронні органи. І на сьогоднішній день по багатьом зверненням ми маємо відкриті кримінальні справи. А це стосується аудиту діяльності, наприклад, гральний бізнес, очікування та реальність, державна підтримка кінематографії, також надзвичайна кредитна програма шлях до відновлення соціальної та критичної інфраструктури територіальних громад і багато інших. І на сьогоднішній день ми співпрацюємо з правоохоронними органами не тільки щодо надання інформації, подань, а і подальшої аргументації і надання наявних доказів або наявних документів у Рахунковій палаті. Дякую.
Andreas Schwab
Thank you very much, this has been very helpful. We come now to our next speaker, Mr. Marushevskyi. Please, you have the floor for your presentation on strengthening the system for the protection of the European Union's financial interests, and it would be very good to stay within the five minutes timeslot.
Vladyslav Marushevskyi
Good morning, colleagues. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yeah, we are State Audit Service of Ukraine. We are happy to be here once again and present our activities in regard to protection of financial interest of European Union. Just a quick briefing who we are and what is our role in the protecting.
So, we are main and only financial governmental financial control body in Ukraine. And we are dealing with a national or state budget and of course we are dealing with EU funds.
I don't want to stop on national budget with our mandates on this, I just want to switch to European funds. Here we have a role in Ukraine facility, we are independent auditor of EU funds, we provide an audits of all investment indicators in related to Ukraine facility. We are national controller for Interreg and Interreg Next programs and we also have a broad mandate with regards to financial interest, we are anti-fraud coordination service which is let's say in main experience and main practice of European Union countries, member states. We are AFCOS of Ukraine, here we developed our service and we also develop AFCOS network, network of institution who are involved in the spending and usage of EU funds. So I have five point to inform you about our activities.
First one is about the strategy, not anti-corruption strategy but anti-fraud strategy with EU funds which is really important and it's a part of our recommendation from our screening process of chapter 32 and it's a part of our benchmark. We need to adopt and implement national anti-fraud strategy. Here I want to inform you that maybe today if everything will go in a good direction, we will pass this strategy to the governmental, to the government of Ukraine for adoption this strategy. Once again it's a new strategy which is developed by State Audit Service with a different stakeholders and we will hope, we really hope that today if not in a nearest future we will have a result, new and first national anti-fraud strategy for Ukraine. Next one is regarding the legislation changes.
As it was mentioned by Wolfgang that we need to strengthen the capacity of State Audit Service with regards to protection of EU financial interest. Here we prepare the package of draft laws with a different purposes, one of them is to develop AFCOS network, to give a power to law enforcement bodies to cooperate with all of relevant institution from European Union. So this package of draft laws is related to customs code, to the budget code, to our law on financial control. Some of them is already adopted by government and passed to the parliament but some of them still in a tough discussion with the Ministry of Finance is related to our law on financial control but we hope we will finalize this discussion and receive as a result good and new draft laws. Next one regarding the capacities building and the sharing of information on a protection of EU financial interest.
Here I happy to present our two volumes of manual of which is related to EU finances and the main principle of protection of EU financial interest. Next volume is related to mechanism of combating fraud and other violation affecting EU funds. It's really, it was a really hard work and deep analysis of situation in European Union and also in Ukraine with relation to protection of your financial interest.
Unfortunately, I cannot present it or gift it to the EU Parliament, but definitely I will present it to the committee, anti-corruption committee. Yeah, so next one, it's about the training programs on a level with cooperation with our agency of civil service. We prepare a training program for people who are involved in a protection of EU financial interest. Now it's adapted and now all the civil servants can take part in that training and receive the certificates and what is important and knowledges regarding the protection. And last one, yeah, last one is about ongoing cooperation with relevant institution.
We have day-by-day cooperation with OLAF. We inform them about the possible irregularities and violation of law in line with spending of Ukraine facility and other funds from EU side. And even more, just recently we start cooperation with EPPO and they ask and require us to send them information on our financial control measures regarding Ukraine facility. So I will stop here, but I'm ready to answer your questions. Thank you very much.
Andreas Schwab
Thank you very much, Mr. Marushevskyi, and thanks to all the colleagues that have taken the floor so far. Initially we thought that it might be more of an exchange, but now we are running out of time, so I would now give the floor to our responsible colleague, Mr. Freund, for one and a half minute, and then for Mr. Stikhovskyi for one minute, if there is any other member another minute, and then we have to close already. So please, Mr. Freund.
Daniel Freund
Thanks, Chair. Thanks to the experts and mostly thanks to our Ukrainian partners. It's really quite impressive to see what you guys do under very difficult conditions in this fifth year of the three-day operation. We stand with you. I'm very proud that the European Union financially and in many other regards stand with you and that we also convinced our NATO partners at the last summit to financially support Ukraine.
I see lots of reform and progress. I also see a few indications where things are not moving forward fast enough quite yet. I think if I look for example at the ten-point reform priority plan, the analysis of Ukrainian leading civil society is that so far only 15% of that plan is implemented. And I wanted to ask our colleague, the chair of the anti-corruption policy committee, if she can indicate anything that we as Parliament can do to speed up implementation. And the second element that I want to inquire about is the Accounting Chamber.
As far as I understand, only six of the 11 positions, well, they remain vacant. How can we speed up the recruitment so that the Accounting Chamber can be fully operational as quickly as possible? Thank you very much.
Redner 25
Thank you very much, Mr. Freund. This has been very helpful. Now Mr. Stikhovskyi for a minute.
Tomáš Zdechovský
Yes, I would like thanks our Ukraine friends for overview about the situation and current situation.
current situation, I think it's very difficult to see what they are doing in this difficult times, but we see there a little progress and we are very happy that they are fighting against the corruption. I think the strong work and strong fight against the corruption help the society to survive and to support current government and also democratic institution. If they don't trust that really the current government will solve the all problem without corruption, they will not see the future in the country and they will leave there. Also, it's very important to continue and I hope so that you will follow us and participate in anti-fraud infrastructure what we prepare as European Union. I think it's very important also for us, give it new activities and new vision for anti-fraud infrastructure in EU and our friends and all countries around.
Andreas Schwab
Thank you very much, Mr. Sychovsky, and to all other colleagues. I know that there would be other colleagues wanting to have the floor, but we have to close now because now I give the floor for one minute to our colleague Anastasiia Radina to close the meeting. We will continue our exchange and then other colleagues will have the time as well. Over to you, Anastasiia.
Anastasiia Radina
Dear colleagues, again, thank you very much for this indeed fruitful exchange. I do sincerely hope that this is but one of many opportunities to continue our discussion. Let me briefly react to what has been said. Mr. Freund, thank you so much for pointing out the state of implementation of the of what is known in Ukraine as Kachka-Kos memorandum. Let me also here inform you that a number of draft bills was registered by myself and other colleagues in the parliament that are aimed at implementation of this plan, and we're also working in anti-corruption committee to make sure that new anti-corruption strategy also fully reflects on the benchmarks of negotiations clusters, which the Kachka-Kos memorandum also fully reflects on.
So this work is ongoing and we will indeed make sure that we advocate this work among other colleagues in the parliament. With this, let me once again express my sincere gratitude for this occasion and also I would like to express my gratitude to colleagues from anti-corruption and auditing institutions presented here. I think that this whole constellation of people whom we managed to assemble around this table shows the consolidated effort in both legislative and implementative sides of things when it comes to proper budgetary control and fighting against corruption. I let me just express our commitment to continue this work and our openness and readiness for other occasions like this and for open and sincere exchange of opinions on the matter. Thank you so much.
Andreas Schwab
Thank you very much, Anastasiia. We were grateful for the opportunity today, and I just would like to thank you and all the colleagues that have been speaking today from the side of Ukraine, but also from the side of the European Commission, Mr. Nosa and Mr. Resch from Europol. We will take that also in the future very seriously, and we are looking forward for you to achieve all the commitments that you have been doing, and we are also looking forward for a deeper cooperation with Ukraine in the future. Thank you very much for your commitment. Thank you very much for your availability today, and also thank you to the colleagues that have been here in time this morning to participate in this fruitful debate.
I would like to declare that our conversation can be closed here for today, and I look forward together with you for the next meeting. Thank you very much.
Good morning colleagues, welcome to this common meeting of the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on Budgetary Control. We are very lucky to see lots of members and the three commissioners. Also a very warm welcome to the three representatives of the European Commission, especially to our executive vice presidents and also Piotr Serafin and Michael McGrath. I'm very happy to chair this meeting together with my colleague Monika Hohlmeier for the Budge Committee and I would like to give the floor to her later because first we will adopt the agenda. I don't see any comment on this and then we come to the chair's announcement.
You know that the translation is foreseen in the languages that you have been asking for and I don't see any comment on this. And then we come to the adoption of minutes of the 22nd of June when we had our last exchange and I don't see any comment on this. And like that we come to the exchange that we want to do today with the European Commission on the MFF in general but on a more specific topic that has been agreed and to introduce this, if the Committee on Budge wants, I will give the floor now to my colleague Monika Hohlmeier.
Monika Hohlmeier
Thanks a lot, dear Andreas. Dear colleagues, today Budge and Cont are organizing an exchange of views on the conditions and procedures for unfreezing EU funds allocated to Hungary. As a procedural point, let me announce that apart from our standard streaming coverage, this joint meeting will be also broadcast live on EBS on European Broadcasting Service. Now I warmly welcome Raffaele Fitto, executive vice president for cohesion reforms, Piotr Serafin, our commissioner for budget and the fraud and public administration, Michael McGrath, commissioner for democracy, justice, the rule of law and consumer protection. May I say it's very interesting that the Commission has time for Hungary but not for the issue of Spain.
I would like to welcome members from the LIBE, ECON and REGI committees. You have been invited to this meeting due to your respective competences. LIBE closely follows the situation of the rule of law in Hungary. ECON together with Budge scrutinizes the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility and REGI is responsible for the Common Provisions Regulation, CPR, horizontal enabling conditions.
These tools are used together to help protect both the EU budget against rule of law breaches and the EU financial interests in Member States. Since the entry into force of the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation in 2021, BUDG and CONT have attached great importance to the democratic scrutiny of its implementation and have organized several exchanges of views with the Commission on this topic, mostly to take stock of new developments in relation to Hungary, which is the only Member State against which measures have been adopted under the legislation so far. We discussed at several occasions the state of play of the Hungarian frozen funds, last time on 26th of January this year. As you are all aware, since the Hungarian elections took place on the 12th of April 2026, bringing changes to the Hungarian political scene. On 29 May, European media reported that Commission President von der Leyen struck a political deal to free up 16.4 billion of frozen funds as long as Budapest completes key reforms and investments.
Under the deal, 10.4 billion would be freed up to the RRF, 4.2 billion would be recovered from cohesion funds suspended under the Rule of Law Conditionality Mechanism. Another 2.2 billion would be deblocked under the CPR horizontal enabling condition on the Charter of Fundamental Rights to restore academic freedom. Hungary submitted a revised Recovery and Resilience Plan to the Commission on the 10th of June. This revised plan, which aims at fully reaching the 27 super milestones, includes measures to reinforce the anti-corruption framework and the protection of the EU financial interests. Following its positive assessment of the new RRP on the 19th June, the Commission made a proposal for a Council Implementing Decision amending Council Implementing Decision of the 15th of December 2022 in the form of 6.5 billion grant and 3.5 billion loan.
On 10th of July, the revised plan was approved by the Council. We are therefore happy to hear the Commission today about these developments in Hungary.
Andreas Schwab
Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Monika. I think we are now having got a quite good setting of the scene of our exchange, and therefore also from the perspective of the Budgetary Control Committee, it's important that we make sure that what money is going out to countries like Hungary is afterwards being controlled by the European Parliament. We know all together that we have some concerns in the context of the RRF payments how this can be secured and therefore we are looking now forward with great attention to the interventions of the European Commission. We are very grateful that you have been sending three commissioners today.
We would like to make sure that we have an active exchange, so I would give the floor first to Vice Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto and then in the row to Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin and to Michael McGrath at the end and then we will start our exchange. Raffaele, over to you.
Raffaele Fitto
Thank you for this opportunity to discuss the state of play of EU funds for Hungary and with Commissioner Serafin, Commissioner McGrath, we are here to address any questions you may have. As you are aware, on 29th of May 2026, President von der Leyen, Prime Minister Magyár agreed on a robust architecture to ensure that Hungary addresses the issues that will enable to unlocking of a large part of the Union funding that is currently blocked under different procedures. Out of the 18 billion euro in blocked EU funds, Hungary committed to the reforms necessary to unlock in total 16.4 billion euro.
10 billion from the new Hungarian Recovery and Resilience Plan by delivering the super milestones and milestones. 4.2 billion euro under cohesion policy programs by addressing the rule of law breaches identified under the conditionality regulation. 2.2 billion which are currently suspended due to the non-fulfillment of the horizontal enabling condition on the Charter of Fundamental Rights concerning academic freedom. Allow me to explain the different procedures one by one. Let's start with the RRP as it accounts for the largest share of the funds currently blocked.
The Hungarian RRP and the procedures under the conditionality regulation have been closely interlinked since the beginning. In December 2022, the Council adopted both the decision setting measures to protect the Union budget from breaches of the principles of the rule of law in Hungary under the conditionality regulation and Hungary's Recovery and Resilience Plan in which Hungary committed to implement super milestones to ensure the protection of the Union's financial interests and to strengthen judicial independence. Since the adoption of the RRP, Hungary had made some progress but has not met all the super milestones. Without doing so, Hungary had not yet be able to submit any payment request to the Commission. However, the new Hungarian government on 9th of June submitted a request to replace its RRP in order to streamline it and ensure maximum absorption of the funds by meeting all the super milestones as well as implementing new anti-corruption reforms.
All other member states have also revised their plans so there is no special treatment for Hungary. Hungary has six weeks left to fully deliver on its plan, like all other member states until 31st of August. In fact, Hungary's new RRP demonstrates a higher level of ambition in protecting the EU's financial interests and strengthening the rule of law by committing to several steps beyond what was previously discussed with the Commission, including strengthening its anti-corruption framework, improving its public procurement law, joining the European Public Prosecutor's Office. Accordingly, on 19th of June, the Commission adopted a positive assessment of the new RRP and the Council approved it last week. The Commission shared the new RRP with you so you could also assess it and I trust that you have come to the same conclusion.
In any case, work remains to be done and Hungary must now deliver the reforms and investment it has committed to and then submit its payment request in September. At that point, the Commission will assess the fulfillment of the super milestones and will proceed with the payment once all of them have been fulfilled. I hope this clarifies the procedures regarding the RRP and the super milestones. As regards funds currently blocked under the rule of law conditionality procedures, Commissioner Serafin will provide further details. I would only stress that the general regime of conditionality and the rule of law super milestones under the RRP push the common objective of protecting the Union's financial interests.
Thus, by delivering on the RRP milestones, Hungary will also deliver the reforms needed for the lifting of measures under the conditionality regulation unblocking 4.2 billion in cohesion policy programs.
The third issue covered by the agreement of the 29th of May concerns the unfulfilled horizontal enabling condition on the Charter of Fundamental Rights regarding academic freedom. In agreement with EVP Minzatou, who is responsible for the assessment of this horizontal enabling condition, I would like to update you on where we stand at this moment in time. We all know what the heart of the problem is. 21 universities were taken out of public hands and put under the public interest trusts, and in the process the academic senates, the voice of professors and students, lost their power. The solution is simple, even if it took some time to get there.
Give the senates their rights back, similar to the state-owned universities. Hungary's parliament made this change to the public interest trust law on the 23rd of June. Now the 21 universities have until the end of October to actually put it in practice, and then we can officially assess the fulfillment of the horizontal enabling condition. A positive decision on our side would lead to unblocking 2.2 billion euro of EU funding for two cohesion policy programs: economic development and digital renewal. Ladies and gentlemen, the agreement reached between the Commission and the Hungarian government on the 29th of May fully respects the conditionality linked to rule of law and the horizontal enabling condition on the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Accordingly, no blocked funds have been released to Hungary since we last met in January, and the Commission will rigorously assess the fulfillment of each and every condition to unblock any funding. Looking forward, I would like to stress two points. First, the Commission will continue to act strictly within the legal framework, rigorously assessing Hungary's compliance with the conditions and milestones and making a positive decision only if all commitments are addressed. Secondly, that we have worked in full respect for the Parliament's scrutiny and we remain fully committed to open and transparent cooperation with this house on this important and sensitive issues. Thank you.
Andreas Schwab
Thank you very much, Executive Vice-President Fito, for your intervention, and we are very happy to hear that you act fully in the line of the rule of law. And we will give the floor now to Commissioner Serafin on the budget. Over to you.
Piotr Serafin
Thank you, Mr. Chair, thank you for the invitation to today's exchange. I will focus on the relevant developments in the context of the conditionality regulation. We have the conditionality regulation in place to protect the financial interests of the Union, to protect the European taxpayer's money, because it is the European taxpayer who is funding the EU budget, against corruption, fraud, and conflict of interests. The conditionality regulation was activated so far only once, in December 2022, and it was activated precisely because the Commission and the Council at that time had justified concerns that the European taxpayer's money could not be sufficiently protected anymore in Hungary against corruption, fraud, and conflict of interest. Since this decision was adopted, we have been all awaiting actions of the Hungarian government to address the concerns as specified in the Council implementing decision.
We expected that in the interest of the European taxpayers, but also in the interest of legitimate beneficiaries of the EU funds in Hungary. Today, as stated by Executive Vice-President Fito, we can clearly see that the newly elected Hungarian government aims to address these concerns and unblock the EU funds. All the concerns identified under the conditionality regulation are in substance covered also by the so-called milestones and super milestones under the Hungarian recovery and resilience plan, as described by Executive Vice-President Fito. That's why, by delivering on the RRF super milestones, Hungary will also deliver on the reforms needed to the lifting of the measures under the conditionality regulation. I can assure you that the requirements for lifting those measures under the conditionality regulations have not changed and they will not change.
What has changed is the willingness of the Hungarian government to address those issues and demonstrate that it remedied the situation that led to the adoption of measures. Therefore, we expect confidently that Hungary will submit a notification to the Commission in the coming months, together with evidence that the concerns under the conditionality regulation have been addressed. And then we will apply regular procedure: there is a month for the Commission to assess the submission of the Hungarian government, and there is also the Council that will finally decide on the basis of qualified majority voting. A total of 4.2 billion of EU funding from cohesion programs can still be unblocked under this process. The key date to retain here is the end of 2026: to avoid decommitment of another 1 billion euro, actions have to be taken timely to allow the Council to lift the measures by that date.
Hungary also intends to address as a priority risks of conflict of interest on the part of the board members running public interest trusts during the period of phasing out of these organizations. We want the students from these universities to take part in Erasmus+ mobility project during the next academic year. Under the supervision of Executive Vice-President Minzatu, our teams are already coordinating with the Hungarian Erasmus+ National Agency in Hungary so that we can restart as soon as everything is clear. For this to happen, Hungary needs to notify legislative changes in order to solve issues under the rule of law conditionality procedure. Let me conclude by a more general comment going beyond Hungary.
In the next MFF, respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights will remain a prerequisite for receiving support from the Union budget. We have therefore proposed strong safeguards to ensure that the Union budget continues to be well protected, as it is already the case today, including in the context of the RRF and the cohesion funds, and in all Member States. In addition, the conditionality regulation will continue to apply to all EU funds. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Andreas Schwab
Thank you very much, Commissioner Serafin, also being at the end a bit larger because you know that there are some concerns on the MFF in relation to the RRF. Thank you very much for these comments. And now we give the floor to Commissioner McGrath on the rule of law in general. Over to you.
Michael McGrath
Dear Chairs, honorable members, thank you very much for the invitation to be here with you today. I'm delighted to join my colleagues, EVP Fito and Commissioner Serafin. On the 2nd of June, I visited Hungary shortly after the elections.
I notably met with several ministers and chairs of key parliamentary committees. The visit provided a valuable opportunity to take stock of the political situation and to engage constructively with the new authorities. My interlocutors emphasized their commitment to restoring the rule of law by the means of the rule of law, underlining that on some aspects this process will take time. On the 16th of June, I gave an update in the General Affairs Council under the Article 7 procedure. Member states welcomed that developments in Hungary were moving in the right direction while underlining the importance of the effective implementation of the planned reforms and keeping the momentum.
Since Hungary's new government took office two months ago, significant progress has already been made in this short period towards bringing Hungary closer into line with the values of Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union. Pressure on independent media and civil society organizations has been alleviated. Concretely, the draft law on the transparency of foreign-funded civil society and media organizations influencing the public discourse tabled under the former parliament was removed from the legislative agenda when the new parliament was formed. On the 30th of June, the National Assembly abolished the Sovereignty Protection Office, which is the object of an ongoing infringement procedure launched by the Commission and is pending before the Court of Justice. The Commission is analyzing this and will assess how to proceed on this basis.
The state of danger that allowed the government to override acts of parliament through emergency measures expired on the 13th of May. On the 29th of May, Hungary and the Commission reached a political agreement on the necessary reforms to significantly strengthen its anti-corruption and integrity framework by the end of August this year. The Hungarian Omnibus Law prepared in consultation with the Commission has entered into force already. On the 10th of July, the Commission adopted the decision confirming Hungary's participation in the European Public Prosecutor's Office following Hungary's request in May. This marks an important step in strengthening the protection of EU funds and the rule of law in Hungary.
Once operational, the EPPO will be granted jurisdiction over crimes committed after the 1st of June 2021. Legislation adopted on the 23rd of June amended the Media Act to introduce reforms to the rules governing the national media regulator, for example in relation to its competences, tasks and roles, its Media Council, its president, vice-presidents and its office. The law establishes new criteria for the nomination, appointment and dismissal of all relevant office holders within these structures. Hungary also introduced new rules on the governance and funding of public service broadcasting. The media situation in Hungary has been a concern for many years and we welcome these developments.
Let me also note that the annual Budapest Pride march took place on the 27th of June with the assistance of the Hungarian authorities and that criminal charges brought against the organizers of the 2025 Pride march under the previous government have been dropped. This is another welcome development. The Commission has always stood on the side of the LGBTQI+ community in Hungary. It's also important that Hungary implements the ruling of the European Court of Justice of the 21st of April. We trust that the Hungarian government will address all measures that were found to be in violation of EU law.
On the 22nd of June, Prime Minister Magyar announced the 17th amendment to the fundamental law. Parliament adopted this yesterday.
These legislative changes would address issues that go beyond the requirements of the RRP super milestones, such as, for example, giving the judiciary a stronger role in the appointment and removal of the president of the Curia and the president of the National Office for the Judiciary. A National Asset Recovery and Protection Office with public prosecution functions would be established. It would be tasked with recovering the proceeds of crimes related to the disbursement of public funds. The Commission will continue following closely the developments in Hungary. The Rule of Law Report, which the College will adopt later this week, will provide a more detailed assessment of the developments in Hungary in four key areas for the rule of law: justice, anti-corruption, media pluralism, and institutional checks and balances.
There is a clear change of direction in Hungary. Authorities are making important reform efforts and concrete progress has already been made. Looking ahead, we will continue to engage in close dialogue with Hungary and to support the country on its reform path. Thank you.
Andreas Schwab
Thank you very much, Commissioner McGrath, for your final intervention on behalf of the European Commission. This has been all very helpful and we start now our exchange and the first speaker from the side of the European Parliament is our colleague Jean-Marc Germain.
Jean-Marc Germain
Thank you, Chair, I'm going to speak in French. D'abord merci aux commissaires pour leur présence tous les trois et studieuse puisque beaucoup d'informations nous ont été dispensées et merci aussi pour le travail qui est fait. Je voudrais commencer par un commentaire positif pour souligner que finalement ce n'est pas un hasard si les questions liées à l'état de droit sont l'objet de l'article 2 des traités. Et que c'est la raison pour laquelle cette réunion que nous avons, ces outils qui ont été mis en place par l'Union européenne sont éminemment fondamentaux et le fait que nous ici aujourd'hui ayons cette réunion pour regarder comment la situation évolue en Hongrie est très important. Me féliciter aussi de cette vague de réformes qui est en cours en Hongrie, c'est assez spectaculaire et ça montre qu'au fond on a raison de croire dans nos instruments, ça montre leur force et ça montre aussi notre vigilance que le prochain MFF ne vienne pas affaiblir ces outils.
Je voudrais poser, faire trois commentaires qui sont aussi des questions. D'abord peut-être avoir un peu plus de précision sur le calendrier des réformes à faire qui manquent.