Commissioner Michael McGrath, in a written answer on 20 July 2026, defended the adequacy of existing EU instruments to protect the rule of law and signalled no intention to back a revision of the EU Treaties, pushing back on calls from Renew MEPs Yvan Verougstraete and Sandro Gozi for stronger legal tools to address persistent violations in Hungary. The answer, which impacts EU institutions, the Hungarian government, EU taxpayers, and rule-of-law advocates, reaffirms the Commission's reliance on financial conditionality rather than institutional reform.
The question, submitted by Verougstraete and Gozi, argued that current mechanisms — notably Article 7 TEU and the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation — have proven insufficient to prevent institutional deadlocks and ensure a swift response to systematic breaches by Viktor Orbán's government. In his reply, McGrath rejected the premise that the Treaties are inadequate, stating that they 'provide a high level of protection of EU values' and are complemented by a variety of instruments. He pointed to significant funding already blocked for Hungary under the Conditionality Regulation, the Charter horizontal enabling condition of the Common Provisions Regulation, and the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and noted that the Commission is 'engaging constructively with the new Hungarian government' to resolve outstanding concerns.
On the question of treaty revision under Article 48 TEU, McGrath gave no indication of support, instead emphasising that the Conditionality Regulation will remain in force under the next Multiannual Financial Framework (2028-2034) and that the Commission will use it 'if the relevant conditions are met'. He also referenced the Commission's proposal for the new MFF, which combines financial support for rule-of-law measures with strong safeguards and conditionalities. The answer contains no concrete new proposals, numerical targets, or deadlines, instead reiterating existing commitments and the Commission's willingness to use all applicable tools. Institutional follow-up is expected as the MFF negotiations proceed, with the Commission likely to continue relying on budgetary conditionality rather than pursuing treaty change.