The European Court has declared that Hungary’s foreign-funding restrictions violate EU law.
The legal battle began in 2017, when Hungary’s parliament approved new rules requiring Hungarian organisations receiving over 7.2 million Hungarian forints (about €20,000) from outside the country to formally register and present themselves as foreign-funded entities.
The law applies exclusively to associations and foundations receiving financial support sent from other Member States or third countries, and its introduction made Hungary the first EU country to introduce a so-called “foreign funding” restriction inside the EU.
The European Court of Justice has now held that the transparency law runs contrary to Member States’ obligations of the free movement of capital laid down in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. This is specifically in regards to the right to respect for private and family life, the right to the protection of personal data and the right to freedom of association.
The court concluded that the transparency law establishes a non-justifiable difference in treatment between domestic and cross-border movements of capital.
It found the requirement for these organisations to declare themselves and to register as “organisations in receipt of support from abroad” to be a restriction to the freedom of capital, and that the Hungarian government had failed to justify this.
The court also identified a limitation to the freedom of association because, it found, the law made the operations of the associations falling within the scope of that law much more difficult.
In addition, it held that declaration and publication requirements laid down by the transparency law limit the right to respect private and family life, and that the right to the protection of personal data was also affected. The stated limitations to fundamental rights could not be justified by any of the objectives of general interest expressed by Hungary.
Philanthropy Advocacy and ECNL among other partners have stated that they are now working to analyse in more depth the law’s implications.
EFC, DAFNE and ECNL recently put together a handbook to provide practical guidance for CSOs to advocate and litigate using EU law to protect their rights and civic space in the EU.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.