Orban's bluffing on a rule-of-law mechanism - here's why

Whether strong rule-of-law conditionalities will be attached to the EU's next seven-year budget and the coronavirus recovery package is one of the biggest battles in Brussels at the moment.

In the European Parliament, all major political groups insist that a meaningful rule-of-law mechanism – with the option of suspending EU funds for members states facing a systemic breach of the rule of law – is an indispensable condition to give the green light to the next seven-year budget.

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