“Frans Timmermans, the First Vice-President of the European Commission and the top candidate of the European Socialists (PES) for the post of Commission President, should be withdrawn from the work of the Commission for the period when he is actively taking part in the election campaign”, Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office Gergely Gulyás wrote in a letter to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, explaining the position of the Hungarian Government.
The politician asked Juncker to, if possible, withdraw Timmermans from the work of the Commission by giving him unpaid election leave, because the office of Commission Vice-President is incompatible with active participation in the European Parliament (EP) election campaign.
The Minister approached Mr. Juncker as a result of the fact that Timmermans represented the Commission at the debate on the rule of law in Hungary held during the plenary session of the EP on 30 January. As he wrote in his letter, which was dated the following day, the Hungarian Government was not surprised by the fact that the Commission was represented by the First Vice-President.
He regards it as unfortunate, however, that “as a regular critic of Hungary” Timmermans “used his speech for the purposes of his own election campaign, while voicing the statements of the Hungarian left-wing opposition”, Mr. Gulyás wrote.
The Minister reminded the President that the members of the Commission must perform their duties in a totally impartial manner, with integrity, dignity, loyalty and discretion, and while conforming to the regulations set own in the European treaties and the Commission’s behavioural codex. In addition, during the performance of their duties, they must strive to achieve the highest possible levels of professional ethics. “We believe that these principles must be applied at all times, and particularly during the course of an election campaign”, he added.
Although a recent amendment of the behavioural codex enables members of the Commission to remain in office as top candidate, the “provenly politically biased behaviour shown at the debate is intolerable” during the performance of a Commissioner’s duties, Mr. Gulyás underlined.
“It is highly questionable to what extent allowing this could be legitimate for a Commissioner, if the pay of an average employee of the European Parliament can be withheld for the whole period of the given election campaign if they are a candidate at an election”, he determined.
“It has already introduced such measures in the case of one of the accredited parliamentary assistants of the Hungarian People’s Party delegation”, the politician pointed out.
“Interestingly, if a Commissioner enters a national election campaign as a candidate, they are bound to refrain from performing work for the Commission, or they must be given unpaid election leave for at least the full duration of the national election campaign”, he noted.
“It seems that the European Commission sees nothing problematic with the fact that one of its influential members is the top candidate of the European party alliance whose Hungarian member is openly cooperating and campaigning with anti-Semitic forces”, the Minister stated.
According to the behavioural codex, measures must be taken to ensure that, if a Commissioner becomes a candidate during a European Parliament election campaign, they continue to respect the principles of impartiality, integrity and discretion. “According to our standpoint, the listed measures do not guarantee impartiality in the case of the European Socialists’ top candidate”, Mr. Gulyás wrote.
“Hungary has always been open to cooperation and agreement with the European Commission”, the politician underlined.
“Our disputes have been conducted on a purely professional basis, during the course of which party politics did not play a role. We have discussed legal provisions with the Commission’s various services, and have conducted our legal disputes in an open and transparent manner. This is why we have succeeded in coming to an agreement that was free from political considerations in every single case”, he stated.