The European Union has styled itself as a union of values and prides itself on a commitment to freedom, democracy and human rights that is safeguarded in its treaties, law and policy. But what happens when a member of the EU goes against its values? Not nearly enough.
Earlier this month, Hungarian President János Ãder signed an amendment to the countryâs higher education law that imposes new requirements on foreign universities operating in Hungary and that are likely to prove impossible to comply with. Non-compliance will, in all likelihood, cause their closure.
It is no secret that the law targets the Central European University, a graduate school founded by the Hungarian-American financier George Soros, a man Orbán has compared to a predator swimming in Hungarian waters. As one of the worldâs leading centers for social science and a university built to defend democracy, the CEU contributes significantly to EU research and enriched the lives of countless students. But the university, established under Hungarian law but chartered in the United States, falls foul of the new legislation.
Soros may be an outspoken Orbán critic, but the governmentâs claims of his nefarious influence on Hungarian politics are nonsense. Worryingly, media coverage has echoed âeven amplified â Orbánâs narrative. This obsessive focus on Soros obscures the real takeaway from this attack on one of Europeâs finest universities: Orbán is calling the EUâs bluff on its so-called shared values.
Hungaryâs media has already been severely curtailed and NGOs appear to be next in the line of fire.
The law is a test to the EU. And it is failing.
Hungaryâs media has already been severely curtailed and NGOs appear to be next in the line of fire. If these institutions can fall so swiftly in Hungary â and with so little resistance from the EU â where will they fall next?
The EUâs response has been deeply disappointing. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker initially mustered an unequivocal âI donât like the decision,â while First Vice-President Frans Timmermans played for time. The Commissionâs subsequent decision to take legal action over Hungaryâs higher education law is welcome but it could be too little too late.
![The main building of the Central European University in Budapest | Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images](http://www.politico.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/GettyImages-660125304-714x450.jpg)
The main building of the Central European University in Budapest | Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images
At the European Parliament â where pressure is mounting on the European Peopleâs Party (EPP) to expel Hungaryâs governing Fidesz party â EPP Party Chair Manfred Weberâs promise to defend âfreedom of thinking, research and speechâ will be meaningless without the support of the partyâs president, Joseph Daul, who has made excuses for the Hungarian prime minister for too long. MEPs were not slow to criticize Orbán when he appeared before the European Parliament to defend his higher education law. But moral pressure from the EU will amount to little unless it brings political consequences.
European Council President Donald Tusk, perhaps the only high-level EU official in a position to exert public pressure on the Hungarian government, has also been conspicuously silent. It is unlikely he will stick his head over the parapet given Orbán lent him last-minute support for his reappointment last month.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and outgoing French President François Hollande, wrapped up in their own domestic fights, have been equally passive. Although they have not been shy about voicing their concerns over Donald Trumpâs presidency, they appear reluctant to protect their values closer to home, where they are no less in danger.
The Trump administration, in fact, has been far franker than any EU government in challenging Hungaryâs higher education law â an important response, given that the law was interpreted by some as an attempt by Orbán to woo Trump, whom he considers a potential ally against the EU establishment.
The EU has to finally step up and protect academic freedom in Europe. The conventional wisdom in Brussels is that diplomatic sanctions against Austria in 2000 backfired by bolstering support for Jörg Haiderâs Austrian Freedom Party. But the sanctions also subjected Haider to intense public scrutiny and made it more difficult for him to implement his far-right agenda.
At the very least, the EU should provide political, moral and financial support for embattled civil society groups and Budapest demonstrators.
The Council should declare Hungary to be at risk of breaching fundamental rights. The fact that it did not do so over Polandâs controversial reforms to its constitutional tribunal is no excuse not to act this time. EU members should also consider financial penalties against Hungary. They have done so in the past over the countryâs failure to correct its budget deficit and, with a rewrite of the regulation underpinning the EUâs cohesion fund, they could do so again.
At the very least, the EU should provide political, moral and financial support for embattled civil society groups and Budapest demonstrators.
Whatâs clear is that the EU cannot afford to be silent any longer if it wants to be a credible defender of democracy and human rights. Orbán has bowed to pressure in the past. If EU leaders take a hard stand for academic freedom and European values, he will do so again.
Dermot Hodson is an associate professor of political economy at Birkbeck College at the University of London.