EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Strasbourg, 8.7.2025

SWD(2025) 917 final

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT

2025 Rule of Law Report






















Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in Hungary

Accompanying the document

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions

2025 Rule of Law Report























The rule of law situation in the European Union

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I.Justice System 1  

Independence

The level of perceived judicial independence in Hungary is low among the general public and companies. Overall, 37% of the general population and 38% of companies perceive the level of independence of courts and judges to be ‘fairly or very good’ in 2025 2 . The perceived level of independence among the general public has decreased in comparison with 2024 (41%), as well as in comparison with 2021 (41%). The perceived level of judicial independence among companies has slightly decreased since 2024 (40%) but remains higher than in 2021 (32%).

The National Judicial Council has continued to exercise the powers acquired by means of the judicial reform of 2023. In particular, the Council gave positive opinions on the suitability of candidates for the post of Kúria Vice-Presidents 3 and considered the 2023 appointment by the Kúria President of four court managers in the Kúria in line with the law 4 . After the retirement of the head of the Civil Department and the appointment of the heads of the Criminal and Administrative Departments to the post of Vice-President, the Kúria President did not propose the appointment of new heads of department, as a Vice-President may also perform the duties of a head of department 5 . Also, the Council gave consent to the secondment of a judge to the National Directorate-General for Hospitals.

New rules have been introduced on the appointment and career of judges, but the process did not always include the consultation of the National Judicial Council on some of the relevant legislative amendments, in line with the legislation in force. On 22 November 2024, the Ministry of Justice signed an agreement with the National Judicial Council, the National Office for the Judiciary and the Kúria that includes salary increases for judges and court staff and announces some reforms to the judicial system 6 . As a follow-up to this four-party agreement, in December 2024, the National Assembly introduced several reforms. First, it passed legislation introducing the first step of a staggered salary raise in the justice system. Second, it adopted an amendment to the Fundamental Law (Fourteenth Amendment) which raises the minimum age for becoming a judge and opens the possibility to continue serving as a judge after reaching the general retirement age. Third, it introduced new requirements in terms of prior experience needed to appoint judges from outside the judiciary. The reforms proposed by the Government attracted criticism and protests from judicial associations and judges on the grounds of judicial independence. Following these protests, the President of the National Judicial Council resigned on 3 December 2024. Although the National Judicial Council had discussed and signed the four-party agreement, it was not consulted on the subsequent legislative amendments. In fact, the Council considered that new provisions will have a negative impact on the working conditions of judges and on judicial training and will create unjustified differences of treatment within the judiciary. On 15 January 2025, the National Judicial Council withdrew from the four-party agreement, declaring it invalid. However, the Minister of Justice announced that the Government would still continue implementing the four-party agreement. On 11 June 2025, the National Assembly adopted a cardinal law setting in statute the detailed rules of some of the reforms mentioned in that agreement 7 . The new law introduced rules related to the functioning of the justice system, including detailed rules on the possibility for judges and prosecutors to serve until the age of 70, the Kúria’s role in securing the uniformity of case law, the possibility of online presence during hearings for members of the audience, the possibility not to hand down reasoned judicial decisions in civil cases if it is presumed that the parties will not exercise their right of appeal and the obligation of the courts to pay the parties a daily lump sum as compensation for any breach of a procedural deadline by the judge hearing the civil or administrative case. The National Judicial Council was consulted on the draft in a procedure described by the Council as ineffective 8 .

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Fundamental Law and other legislative amendments 9 changed the rules on judicial appointments. They raised the lower age limit for becoming a judge from 30 to 35 years as of 1 March 2025 and introduced new requirements of prior experience outside the judiciary for first-time appointments to judicial posts 10 . According to the Government, these changes will increase the quality of the judicial system 11 . The new appointment criteria are not applicable if the applicant for a judicial position is a junior judge who was employed in the judicial system before 1 January 2025, or a junior judge who was employed in the judicial system as a trainee judge before 1 January 2025. According to stakeholders, these changes favour candidates who apply from outside the judiciary 12 . On 16 June 2025, the Venice Commission found that raising the minimum age for the appointment of judges from 30 to 35 years, although rather high, is not per se contrary to international standards, and the requirement to have a fresh outside view into the court system may be welcomed. The new rules introduced – as of 1 January 2026 – the possibility for judges who have already reached the general retirement age to stay on the bench until the age of 70. If the judge concerned requests such extension in the timeframe determined by law, the President of the National Office for the Judiciary or – in the case of Kúria judges – the Kúria President must automatically grant the request 13 .

The transparency of case allocation in lower courts has not been improved, whereas the case allocation in the Kúria is being implemented well 14 . According to the Government, there is no need to revise the legislation applicable to case allocation in lower courts because the method of case allocation chosen by the court president has to ensure the objective and even distribution of cases; deviation from the pre-established rules is only allowed for reasons defined by law or because of important circumstances affecting the functioning of the court 15 . Several stakeholders note that the discretion allowed to court managers in lower courts, the existing exemptions to the case allocation rules and the frequent changes of these rules prevent the general public and the parties from verifying whether the rules are being followed 16 . Therefore, there has been no progress on the recommendation regarding case allocation in lower courts. As regards case allocation in the Kúria, following legislative reforms in 2023, the parties to the proceedings at the Kúria are able to verify on the basis of the case file whether the rules on case allocation have been duly applied 17 . No complaints were reported from parties in proceedings as regards case allocation at the Kúria 18 .

The Kúria continues to enforce uniformity of case law through its uniformity complaint panel. In 2024, the Kúria handed down 17 uniformity decisions and 40 uniformity complaint decisions (14 of them being on-the-merits decisions, including three having the effect of a uniformity decision) 19 . The Kúria’s uniformity decisions are binding on Hungarian courts until the uniformity complaint panel changes the decision. Preliminary references in the interest of uniformity of law and uniformity complaints are heard by the uniformity complaint panel composed of the Kúria President or Vice President and 40 senior judges (the Secretary General, heads and deputy heads of department and presiding judges) 20 . The Kúria maintains that, following a decision handed down by the Court of Justice under Article 267 TFEU following a preliminary reference, Kúria judges and panels are required to seek the opinion of the uniformity complaint panel before setting aside (disapplying) a precedent decision of the Kúria, found incompatible with EU law 21 . This is necessary because the uniformity complaint panel has the exclusive competence to remove the binding force of legal interpretations contained in previously published Kúria decisions. In 2024, the Court of Justice already confirmed in a preliminary reference from a Hungarian court that any court must be able to disregard any binding ruling of a national court if it considers, in the light of the interpretation of EU law provided by the Court of Justice, that such ruling is not consistent with EU law 22 . A new law 23  adopted on 11 June 2025 further strengthens as of 1 January 2026 the Kúria’s role in enforcing the uniformity of case law when reviewing binding judicial decisions in civil cases.

Undue pressure on some judges continues within the judiciary, notably in relation to internal debates on key issues related to judicial independence. The Kúria President regularly questions in public the legitimacy of the service courts 24 and his criticism intensified after the presidents of the service courts and several other judges publicly criticised the four-party agreement 25 . This prompted reactions from the National Judicial Council, the Res Iudicata Association and the Hungarian Association of Judges, which organised a demonstration in defence of judicial independence 26 . On 17 March 2025, the Budapest Regional Court found that the Kúria President had unlawfully relieved a presiding judge from his duties as a sanction for expressing his criticism in relation to the Kúria 27 . On 6 March 2025, in the context of the enhanced supervision of the implementation of the Baka judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe invited the Hungarian authorities to consider adopting further general measures to address the ‘chilling effect’ present in the judiciary and to ensure that judges’ freedom of expression, notably related to matters of public interest concerning the judiciary, is unambiguously guaranteed 28 . Smear campaigns against judges continue to be reported 29 .

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Fundamental Law, adopted in December 2024, removes the requirement that the Prosecutor General be selected from among prosecutors. Following the entry into force of this constitutional amendment and related legislative changes, beside the mandatory three-year legal traineeship needed to pass the bar exam and the further requirement of having one year of professional experience, no further professional expertise will be required to be elected as the Prosecutor General. The Fifteenth Amendment to the Fundamental Law also fixes the retirement age of prosecutors at 70 as of 1 January 2026 30 . As regards the appointment of the Prosecutor General, the Venice Commission considered that stricter criteria, coupled with adequate safeguards in the appointment process, could contribute to the de-politicisation of the position, and recommended to this end further amending the eligibility criteria for the position of Prosecutor General and considering the introduction of guarantees in the Prosecutor General’s appointment process, such as the establishment of a Prosecutorial Council 31 . On 11 June 2025, the National Assembly elected a candidate from within the prosecution service to serve as new Prosecutor General, for a period of nine years. Hungary has not implemented GRECO’s recommendation to review the possibility to keep the incumbent Prosecutor General in office after the expiry of their mandate by a parliamentary minority blocking the election of a successor. The hierarchical structure of the prosecution remains intact. This, together with the lack of internal checks and balances, means that the risk continues that senior prosecutors can influence the work of subordinate prosecutors, including in individual cases 32 . The Ministry of Justice can still access prosecutorial decisions relating to criminal procedures; according to stakeholders, this allows to exert political influence and pressure on the prosecution service in individual cases 33 . 

Quality

Significant progress has been made with the increase in salaries in the justice system, which is being done in three steps until 2027 34 . Judicial salaries are calculated by applying various multiplying factors determined by law to the salary base 35 . The salary base is determined by the National Assembly in the law on the annual central budget. The four-party agreement signed on 22 November 2024 envisages salary increases for judges and judicial staffs in three steps, which, as regards judges, would lead to the average salary for these categories being increased by 48% by 2027. In December 2024, the National Assembly adopted the 2025 annual central budget raising the salary base for judges by 15%. The 2026 annual central budget, adopted in June 2025, raised the salary base for judges by further 10%. However, the measures do not introduce structural solutions, such as an automatic indexation of the salary base for judges, as is the case for salaries of a number of key public officials 36 . Since January 2022, when the salary base was last adjusted, inflation has had an accumulated effect of 40%, and in February 2024 the National Judicial Council and the President of the National Office for the Judiciary had proposed a 35% increase. Some structural changes raised more substantially the salaries for judicial and prosecutorial staff at all instances and – based on a special agreement between the Minister of Justice and the Kúria President – for judges and court managers of the Kúria 37 . Their salaries are ultimately also calculated based on the salary base for judges annually determined by Parliament. Therefore, there has been significant progress with the increase in salaries in the justice system.

Shortcomings exist in the legal aid scheme. The eligibility threshold for legal aid in civil procedure is high, meaning that a person with an income well below the poverty threshold may not be eligible for legal aid 38 . At the same time, under the current legal framework, the status of ‘certified victim’ provides a more favourable treatment for the purposes of access to legal aid under the condition of social vulnerability. Even though the fees for defence lawyers under the legal aid scheme were raised as of 2024, they are still regarded as critically low, possibly impacting access to justice 39 . As of 28 January 2025, at first instance, the court fee payable in small-value civil and commercial cases decreased, whilst in higher-value cases it increased, and the statutory fee cap has been removed. Hungary performs well as regards specific arrangements for child-friendly justice/proceedings (both civil and criminal/juvenile justice proceedings) 40 . Also, as reported last year, access to justice could be improved through specific arrangements to persons at risk of discrimination and older persons.

Digitalisation of the justice system continues to be overall high. The courts have several digital tools at their disposal, including an electronic case management system, distance communication technology and secure electronic communication. Hungary is among the best performing EU Member States as regards the availability of digital solutions to conduct and follow court proceedings in criminal cases 41 . Judgments are not yet assigned a European Case Law Identifier, and they are not yet modelled according to a standard which would enable their machine readability 42 . A legislative amendment introduced as of 1 January 2026 the online streaming of court hearings for pre-registered members of the audience in most civil and criminal cases 43 .

Efficiency

The efficiency of the judiciary continues to be high overall. Hungary performed best among Member States as regards the estimated time needed to resolve litigious civil and commercial cases at all court instances in 2023 44 . The number of pending civil, commercial and administrative and other cases in 2023 was the fourth lowest in the EU 45 .

There is still no adequate compensation scheme for cases involving protracted criminal and non-contentious civil proceedings, while such a scheme has been introduced for contentious civil and administrative proceedings. In the context of the enhanced supervision of the implementation of the Gazsó judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, on 6 March 2025, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe reiterated its ‘profound concern’ about the continued lack of any development as regards the outstanding issue of compensatory remedy in respect of excessively long criminal, administrative, and non-contentious civil proceedings, such as enforcement proceedings 46 . On 11 June 2025, the National Assembly adopted a new law 47  amending the procedural rules applicable to contentious civil and – as of 1 July 2026 – administrative proceedings, obliging the court to pay the parties a daily lump sum as compensation for any breach of a procedural deadline by the judge hearing the case 48 .

II.Anti-Corruption Framework 

The perception among experts, citizens and business executives is that the level of corruption in the public sector remains high. In the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International, Hungary scores 41/100 49 and ranks 27th in the EU and 82nd globally. This perception has been relatively stable over the past five years 50 . The 2025 Special Eurobarometer on Corruption shows that 88% of respondents consider corruption widespread in their country (EU average 69%) and 32% of respondents feel personally affected by corruption in their daily lives (EU average 30%). As regards businesses, 83% of companies consider that corruption is widespread (EU average 63%) and 50% consider that corruption is a problem when doing business (EU average 35%). Furthermore, 34% of respondents find that there are enough successful prosecutions to deter people from corrupt practices (EU average 36%), while 19% of companies believe that people and businesses caught for bribing a senior official are appropriately punished (EU average 33%) 51 .

While implementation of some remedial measures in response to the EU conditionality procedure is ongoing, important shortcomings remain. To protect the EU budget against corruption and systemic rule of law issues, in 2022 the Council temporarily partially suspended funds under several EU programmes and prohibited entering into new legal commitments with public interest trusts, until the breaches of the principle of the rule of law and/or their effects or risks for the Union budget or the Union’s financial interests were remedied 52 . On 2 December 2024, Hungary formally notified legislative amendments regarding certain public interest trusts and entities maintained by them and requested the Commission to propose to the Council to adapt or lift the measure on public interest trusts adopted in 2022 53 . The Commission, having assessed the legislative amendments, considered that they do not adequately address the outstanding concerns on conflicts of interest in the boards of public interest trusts and therefore the measures related to public interest trusts should stay in place 54 . Furthermore, no disbursement of funds under the Recovery and Resilience Plan can be made to Hungary until all the ‘super milestones’, including those related to the conditionality procedure, have been satisfactorily fulfilled.

The implementation of the 2024-2025 National Anti-Corruption Strategy and related Action Plan is ongoing, while important actions remain pending 55 . The implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan, applicable as of 15 February 2024, is overseen by a monitoring committee and progress is tracked regularly 56 . Certain measures have been taken, such as codes of conduct for low or mid-level officials, but important actions remain pending 57 . These include measures on asset declarations, Codes of ethics for persons in top executive functions and members of Parliament, political party financing and the review of the motion for revision procedure 58 . A final implementation report is planned for 2026 59 . Concerns previously raised by the OECD and the Council of Europe regarding the lack of a comprehensive and strategic policy approach to effectively tackling corruption remain in essence valid 60 . The government informed that the evaluation of Hungary’s policy approach to effectively tackling corruption is ongoing.

The Integrity Authority continues to report obstacles to fulfilling its oversight tasks effectively, and the practical impact of the proposals made by the Anti-Corruption Task Force has so far been limited. The Integrity Authority considers that it has adequate capacity and the necessary level of independence to carry out its work. Obstacles to the work of the Integrity Authority remain, particularly where it needs to rely on cooperation with other public bodies 61 . Whereas a government decree is expected to give the Integrity Authority a right of direct access to a number of state databases 62 , and the Government indicated that the current legal framework provides all necessary access rights, the Integrity Authority again reported obstacles related to access 63 . The Integrity Authority referred nine cases to the prosecution service in 2024 64 . As part of a criminal investigation against the President of the Integrity Authority, the police and prosecution service carried out an extensive raid of the Integrity Authority 65 . The Government agreed or partially agreed with half of the recommendations made by the Integrity Authority in its second analytical integrity report, rejected about a third of them and is currently assessing the remaining recommendations 66 . In general, however, the concrete follow-up given to accepted recommendations remains unclear 67 . In May 2025, the non-governmental members of Anti-Corruption Task Force (ACTF) rejected its draft annual report 68 . The ACTF launched an evaluation process to avoid similar situations in the future. More broadly, non-governmental members of the Task Force remain concerned as regards its impact, capacities, powers and the Government’s limited uptake of proposals 69 . Two of the organisations that are members of the ACTF have been subject to an investigation by the Sovereignty Protection Office 70 .

The number of submitted motions for revision of prosecutorial decisions doubled in 2024 and nearly a third resulted in the continuation of investigations. Since January 2023, it is possible for a judge to review prosecutorial authorities’ decisions not to investigate corruption suspicions or to terminate ongoing corruption investigations without indictment 71 . In 2024, 80 motions for such a revision were submitted to the Buda Central District Court (compared to 38 in 2023) 72 . Whereas nearly a third of all motions resulted in the continuation of investigations 73 , a majority of the motions submitted by the Integrity Authority have resulted in a resumption of investigations 74 . Motions for revision have proven a useful tool for the Integrity Authority, however it considers that its powers remain limited as regards access to criminal proceedings and the ability to present evidence in that context 75 . Shortcomings of the new procedure concern the temporal scope of the new measure and the lack of binding authority for court decisions quashing prosecutorial decisions 76 . The review by the Ministry of Justice of the functioning and effectiveness of the provisions on judicial review is ongoing with a view to proposing amendments 77 . According to stakeholders, restricted access to case files and stringent procedural deadlines negate the possibility to use the procedure for private prosecution 78 .

Integrity tests and lifestyle checks remain key tools to detect and deter corruption in the administration, although their effectiveness in detecting high-level corruption is limited. According to the prosecution, detection remains the main challenge in the investigation and prosecution of corruption offences 79 . Information and evidence of corruption crimes are primarily obtained in ongoing criminal investigations and prosecutions. Reports transmitted to prosecution by the National Protective Service, which is tasked with carrying out integrity tests and lifestyle monitoring for staff subordinated to the Ministry of Interior and other public administrative bodies, generally concern more petty crimes of public officials 80 . There is no publicly available data on the reliability tests or national security vettings conducted by the Constitution Protection Office, which is responsible for carrying out checks as regards high-ranking officials, given the confidentiality of its activities 81 . However, the prosecution service indicates receiving few reports related to suspicions of corruption from the Constitition Protection Office 82 . Other tools that could be more effective in detecting a wider variety of corruption cases, such as asset declarations, whistleblower reports and data from various registers, such as the central register for beneficial ownership information managed by the Tax and Customs Administration, play a relatively minor role in corruption investigations 83 .

The number of convictions for corruption crimes has decreased and there has been no progress to establish a robust track record on high-level corruption 84 . Whereas the prosecution service reports that sufficient human and financial resources, with an adequate level of specialisation are allocated to corruption cases, it also highlights the high rate of vacancies among junior prosecutors and the need for further specialisation 85 . The new IT system for the handling of case files by the prosecution service is planned to be operational by the end of 2025 86 . The reported indictment rate for corruption crimes continues to be high 87 . In 2024, 264 persons were convicted at final instance for corruption crimes, which is a decrease compared to the previous year 88 . Since 2023, criminal proceedings have been ongoing in a corruption and money laundering case against a number of defendants involving a former high-level official 89 . While four defendants have been sentenced to prison in a corruption case involving primarily EU funds 90 , convictions in high-level corruption cases continue to be rare 91 . Generally, in complex high-level corruption cases, court proceedings tend to be long 92 . The risk of political influence and undue interference with individual cases in the prosecution service and the police, the absence of investigations of corruption allegations concerning high-level officials and their immediate circle, as well as clientelism, favouritism and nepotism in high-level public administration remain areas of concern 93 . The lack of enforcement against foreign bribery is a persistent concern, with no new investigations or convictions and long-standing international recommendations remaining unaddressed 94 . Overall, no progress was made on establishing a robust track record to fight high-level corruption, as recommended in the previous years.

There has been no progress yet on the recommendation regarding lobbying and post-employment regulation, although there are plans to legislate in this area by November 2025 95 . The Government plans to adopt legislation on lobbying, including rules on revolving doors, by 30 November 2025. Its exact elements are yet to be decided 96 . Pending its adoption, no steps have been taken to establish rules on contacts between members of Parliament and lobbyists 97 . Preparations are still ongoing for a non-binding code of conduct for members of Parliament, including guidelines on lobbying and post-employment 98 . No steps have been taken to prepare the code of conduct for persons in top executive functions, planned by 30 April 2024 99 . Hungary’s legislative framework on lobbying and post-employment rules remains incomplete, with no systematic follow-up ensured in case of non-compliance 100 . Since no steps have been taken for a comprehensive reform on lobbying and post-employment rules, there has been no progress yet on the recommendation.

There has been no progress to improve the asset declaration system, including to ensure effective oversight 101 . Actions to strengthen the asset declaration system foreseen in the 2024-2025 National Anti-Corruption Strategy are pending 102 . The power to verify asset declarations has not yet been effectively transferred to the Integrity Authority 103 . The Government did not provide an official reply to the Integrity Authority’s special report on the asset declaration system 104 . Publicity requirements do not apply to most persons entrusted with senior political functions and information about follow-up is not public either. Stakeholders highlight the narrow scope of the declarations, which provide for opportunities to potentially hide assets 105 . A recent amendment to the anti-money laundering legislation, aiming to increase transparency of ultimate beneficial owners of previously established private equity funds, will not enter into force until July 2026 106 . Concerns persist regarding the effective and regular monitoring and verification asset declarations of members of Parliament 107 . In 2024, no procedure against a member of Parliament was initiated, and six members of Parliament rectified their asset declarations after errors were revealed by the public 108 . A recent amendment introduced minor changes to the procedure for declaring assets, without modifying the substantive rules 109 . In 2025, the National Assembly adopted new rules for Hungarian members of the European Parliament which foresee that non-compliance with asset declaration obligations could lead to the termination of their mandate by the Electoral Commission 110 . Against this background, no progress has therefore been made towards implementing the recommendation made in the 2024 Rule of Law Report 111 .

Guides and awareness-raising measures on conflicts of interests are implemented in certain sectors, but legislative fragmentation and systemic weaknesses remain. Based on the Action Plan of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2024-2025, the Government plans to regulate conflicts of interest in the upcoming codes of conduct for persons in top executive functions and members of Parliament 112 . A new code of ethics and conduct for parliamentary civil servants was adopted in October 2024 but is not publicly available 113 . Changes were made to the ethics framework for local and law enforement authorities, covering also conflicts of interest 114 . In 2024, the National Assembly terminated the mandate of one of its members due to a conflict of interest 115 . However, there were no developments to address the systemic weaknesses reported in 2023 and 2024. These include the fragmentation of the regulatory framework on conflict of interests, including as regards public interest trusts, the lack of a general definition of conflicts of interest and the absence of a central supervisory body 116 . A recent audit of the Hungarian National Bank, its own trusts and a related public interest trust maintaining a university led the State Audit Office to file a criminal report against the public interest trust concerned due to conflicts of interest 117 .

The framework for the protection of whistleblowers is in place, however whistleblowing plays a limited role in the detection of corruption crimes. The Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights provides training to civil servants and the preparation of an information campaign on the functioning of whistleblowing platforms and whistleblower protection regimes is still ongoing 118 . According to stakeholders and as illustrated by survey data, whistleblowing is still not a sufficiently widespread practice 119 . Reports can be submitted on the whistleblowing channel for reports on EU fraud, to the Integrity Authority, as well as to the Public Procurement Authority, the National Development Centre and the Competition Authority 120 . However, the prosecution service reports that whistleblower reports do not play a role in the detection of corruption crimes 121 . Civil society organisations continue to raise concerns regarding differences in protection levels for whistleblowers who report breaches of national rules which do not fall within the national legislation transposing Directive 2019/1937 122 .

Key shortcomings with regard to the transparency of the financing of political parties and electoral campaigns remain. No steps were taken in the reporting period to address long-standing recommendations to strengthen the transparency of political party and campaign financing 123 . While some measures have previously been taken to ensure that political party financial registries are transparent and up-to-date, deficiencies remain regarding the transparency and supervision of the accounts of foundations or third-party entities directly or indirectly related to or under the control of political parties 124 . Furthermore, the applicable legislation does not require the disclosure of campaign donations, nor does it prohibit the use of state resources for campaigning during a pre-election period 125 . The possibility for circumvention of campaign spending limits via the use of third-parties and intermediaries, as reported during the 2022 elections 126 , also remains unaddressed. In February 2024, the State Audit Office had imposed fines on six opposition political parties for alleged illegal foreign funding during the 2022 election campaign 127 . On 17 June 2025, in expedited procedure, the National Assembly passed a law that removes the cap on political campaign expenses 128 .

Competition in public procurement has been improved, and different levels of control remain for national and EU-funds related procurements. Corruption risk sectors remain largely the same compared to previous years, with high risks in public procurement, construction, health, IT, and communication services 129 . Corruption prevention carried out by the National Protective Service reportedly continues to play a major role in reducing corruption pressure on the health sector 130 . Businesses’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU show that 36% of companies in Hungary (EU average 25%) think that corruption has prevented them from winning a public tender or a public procurement contract in practice in the last three years 131 . Only 28% of businesses perceive the level of independence of the public procurement review body (Public Procurement Arbitration Board) as very or fairly good 132 . The competition in public procurement procedures is improving and the Single Market and Competitiveness Scoreboard on access to public procurement in Hungary reports 32% of single bids for 2023 (EU average 29%) and 23% for 2024 133 . While the share of public procurement procedures with single bids decreased for both EU-financed and national procurements, the target committed to by Hungary for domestically financed public procurements was not met in 2023 (29% vs the target of 24%) and 2024 (22.3% vs the target of 15%) 134 . Some studies point to an increase in corruption risks for such procurements where different levels of control and oversight apply 135 . In addition, focussing solely on the share of single bids can hide the root causes of lack of competition 136 . The Government’s action plan to improve competition in public procurement contains several measures aiming to foster competition 137 . According to stakeholders, the action plan lacks ambition and does not sufficiently reflect relevant recommendations of the Integrity Authority 138 . Stakeholders report increased corruption risks due to an excessive use of concession contracts and an report that many framework agreements were concluded with a single bidder 139 . Framework agreements concluded by central purchasing bodies have allowed certain economic operators to become market leaders or to acquire a dominant position at the expense of their competitors 140 . Concerns remain regarding favouritism in tender processes and selective awarding to political affiliates, which increase corruption risks 141 .

III.Media Pluralism and Media Freedom

There has been no progress to strengthen the functional independence of the Hungarian media regulator 142 . While the Media Act provides for formal independence of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH), government influence remains significant due to the composition of the decision-making body of the Authority, the Media Council, which remains composed of members all nominated by Parliament. The Council has undertaken investigations into private media considered to be pro-government for potentially racist and anti-immigrant content and into public service media for airing disguised political advertising during the election period. Nevertheless, in the light of the unresolved concerns with regard to the authority, the 2025 Media Pluralism Monitor (MPM) once more assesses the independence and effectiveness of the Media Authority as an area presenting high risk, referring to the authority’s composition, lack of transparency of its decision-making process and certain ‘politically motivated’ decisions 143 . Given that no measures have been adopted or are planned to strengthen the regulator’s functional independence, there has been no progress as regards the recommendations made in previous years.

There has been no progress to increase transparency and fairness in the distribution of state advertising 144 . The general rules and procedures regulating public procurement govern these expenditures and no specific rules ensuring transparency and fairness regulating distribution exist. Public sector communications are carried out under one framework contract with the National Communications Office (NKOH) 145 . The State remains, by far, the most important player in the media advertising market channeling significant state resources to pro-government media and increasing its spending 146 . State advertising accounts for over 30% of the total advertising market, while the Central European Press and Media Foundation (KESMA), a conglomeration of pro-government media outlets, receives up to 75-80% of its total revenue from state advertising 147 . The 2025 MPM points out that ‘it is still the case that the state advertises almost exclusively in pro-government media outlets and that the majority of advertising revenues for several media products, typically pro-government, are generated by state advertising’ concluding that this remains an area presenting medium-high risk 148 . Given that no legislative or other measures have been adopted or are planned by the Government on the fair distribution of state advertising, there has been no progress as regards the recommendations made in previous years. 

Transparency in the ownership structure of media companies is not regulated by any specific provisions. Section 41 of the Media Act mandates the NMHH to maintain registers on media service providers, but these registers do not, however, contain information on ownership or beneficial ownership of these companies. Direct ownership information is available via the business register. This leads the 2025 MPM to once more consider this a high-risk area 149 . There has been no change to the system of review of market concentration in the media market 150 .

There has been no progress to enhance the independence of public service media 151 . Reports acknowledge that both the Media Act and the Public Service Code enshrine the principle that public service media shall be independent of both government and economic actors and that financing has steadily increased 152 . However, no legislative or policy changes have been adopted or are planned to address the concerns expressed in relation to the governance of public service media, in particular in relation to government influence. Reports suggest that the organisation and funding structure remain unchanged, maintaining its opacity and complexity 153 . As a consequence, the 2025 MPM has maintained its very high-risk score for this area based on its findings, among others, that ‘Hungarian public service media is financially dependent on the governing majority in Parliament, is controlled by political interests, and is seen as extremely biased in its reporting’ 154 . There has thus been no progress on the recommendations made in previous years.

While the accelerated treatment of court cases related to access to information continues, the scope of access to information remains limited especially as regards public funding. The short procedural deadlines introduced in 2023 have continued to prompt accelerated litigation in cases of access to information of public interest. Restrictions to freedom of information introduced in 2023 and 2024 remain in place 155 . The National Assembly has still not implemented a 2020 decision of the Constitutional Court requiring legislative amendments to establish effective judicial protection in case of freedom of information requests related to public funds, addressed to the recipients of such funds 156 . The enforcement of court orders granting access to documents remains a challenge 157 . At the same time, public access to anonymised official documents of a file in administrative proceedings has been removed by a precedent decision of the Kúria 158 . As regards proactive disclosure, in December 2024, an omnibus law broadened the scope of entities that are required to publish data in the Central Public Data Information Register 159 . While this is a step forward, entities managing significant amounts of public funding, such as state-owned companies 160 , public interest trusts and the Hungarian National Bank and its trusts are not required to publish data in the Register. In addition, many public interest trusts fail to comply with the Freedom of Information Act as they do not operate a website, their founding documents are not publicly available, and they do not publicly disclose data related to their activities. The Media Pluralism Monitor considers this to be an area presenting very high risk 161 . Hungary has ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents 162 .

Pressure on journalists and other media professionals has increased, as they continue to encounter numerous and serious challenges to their work. While stakeholders point out that physical attacks against journalists are very rare in Hungary, they draw attention to the prevalence of smear campaigns and derogatory statements against journalists 163 . Some stakeholders report that access to public interest events and government press conferences continues to be denied on a selective basis and that inquiries from the press often go unanswered 164 . With the investigative activities carried out by the Sovereignty Protection Office into alleged ‘foreign funding’, pressure on independent journalists and media outlets has increased 165 . The 2025 MPM continues to consider the safety of journalists to be an area presenting medium risk 166 . The Council of Europe’s Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists registered five new alerts relating to, respectively, an investigative outlet accused on engaging in foreign influence and espionage by the Sovereignty Protection Office; two journalists seeking to interview the PM who were obstructed, detained and charged; alerts relating to the Act on Transparency in the Public Sphere and a report claiming that intelligence reports had been drawn up on media outlets and CSOs 167 . The Mapping Media Freedom monitoring report has flagged thirty-seven alerts, eight of which concern derogatory statements and smear campaigns targeting journalists; seven of which relate to refusal of accreditation, information or access to political events and six of which are linked to the operation of the Sovereignty Protection Office 168 .

IV.Other Institutional Issues related to Checks and Balances

The Government continues to use its emergency powers extensively, undermining legal certainty and affecting the operation of businesses in the single market. The Government further extended until 14 November 2025 the ‘state of danger’ declared on 25 May 2022 ‘in view of the armed conflict and humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine and with a view to averting their impact on Hungary’ 169 . In this way, the Government can override Acts of Parliament. Several emergency measures adopted in the reporting period have an impact on the business environment and do not seem to be related to the ‘state of danger’ 170 . The Constitutional Court examined various emergency measures in 14 cases in 2024 171 . Stakeholders reported that the extensive and prolonged use of the Government’s emergency powers has undermined legal certainty 172 . The Fifteenth Amendment to the Fundamental Law changes the constitutional rules on the ‘state of danger’ as of 1 January 2026. As a result, setting aside any law through a government decree will require prior parliamentary authorisation. The constitutional rules (introduced in 2022), according to which the initial length of the ‘state of danger’ is 30 days and an extension by the Government requires parliamentary authorisation, remain unchanged. An amendment 173 adopted on 14 April 2025 clarifies that the parliamentary authorisation to extend the ‘state of danger’ or to set aside any law through a government decree cannot be requested for a period longer than six months.

The law-making process remains a serious source of concern, with certain important legislative processes not being linked to public consultation requirements. Almost 90% of the draft laws were adopted at the initiative of the Government, the vast majority of which (90-92%) were submitted to Parliament after public consultation. Nevertheless, public consultation requirements do not apply with certain important legislative drafts introduced directly by individual members of Parliament or parliamentary committees 174 . Examples include amendments to the Fundamental Law 175 or legislation with impact on fundamental rights and EU law 176 . The Government has continued its practice to include only technical amendments in draft laws and then introduce new and substantive amendments in the bill at a very late stage in the legislative process, through the Committee on Legislation, just before the final vote in Parliament 177 . In this way, a regular parliamentary debate and public consultation are avoided. Also, frequent changes of key laws continue to weaken legal certainty and negatively affect the business environment. For instance, last year, the National Assembly and – through emergency measures – the Government, amended 37 times Hungary’s central budget for 2024.

Less than half of the companies surveyed in Hungary express high levels of confidence in the effectiveness of investment protection. 46% of companies are very or fairly confident that investments are protected by law and courts 178 . The main reasons among companies for their lack of confidence are the frequent changes in legislation or concerns about quality of the law-making process (32%) 179 . 37% of companies perceive the level of independence of the national competition authority (Competition Authority) as very or fairly good 180 . A limited number of judicial mechanisms are in place at the level of the Kúria to ensure the implementation of administrative court judgments, which include the possibility to quash administrative decisions for continued non-compliance with the court’s instructions. However, these mechanisms do not include disciplinary actions against the responsible officials or the possibility to award direct or consequential damages or compensation 181 .

Foreign companies, including from other EU Member States, operating in strategic sectors face intensified regulatory pressure from state action. Stakeholders report the continued existence of visible patterns in legislation that cumulatively and significantly damage the financial base for certain foreign investors, including from other EU Member States, leading to de-investment. This is done through tailor-made special taxes (e.g. in the financial, energy and building materials sectors 182 ), unpredictable and excessive administrative fines, restrictions on companies’ expansion strategies, export restrictions 183 and the nationalisation of typical company assets/logistics 184 . In the retail sector, specific building regulations continue to restrict access to the Hungarian market and special taxes are combined with measures directly or indirectly imposing product price restrictions with the effect that foreign companies are de facto discriminated against 185 . On 12 September 2024, the Court of Justice found that measures requiring fixed prices and sales obligations for certain agricultural products by a government decree introduced under the ‘state of danger’ imposed significant restrictions which were not justified or proportionate, and therefore were incompatible with EU law 186 . Despite that ruling, Hungary has not yet amended the legal framework and discriminatory product price restrictions affecting foreign companies continue to be applied 187 . On 3 October 2024, the Commission opened infringement proceedings against Hungary for failing to bring its retail tax regime in line with the freedom of establishment guaranteed by EU law considering that the regime disproportionally burdens larger foreign companies 188 .

The possibility for the Government to interfere with the application of merger control rules continues to create legal uncertainty. The Government can still declare certain mergers and acquisitions to be of ‘strategic importance for the national economy’ 189 . Such transactions do not need to be notified to the Competition Authority which consequently cannot perform its control function. Such Government decrees are not subject to judicial review 190 and increase legal uncertainty for both domestic and foreign companies. This practice has enabled the implementation of a nationalisation strategy in key sectors, such as energy, media and telecommunication.

Institutional checks and balances remain weak. The Constitutional Court, composed of members elected by the National Assembly without the involvement of the judiciary, still reviews the merits of final rulings of ordinary courts in politically sensitive cases 191 . On 20 May 2025, the National Assembly elected its Deputy Speaker and the Prosecutor General to the Constitutional Court 192 . The Constitutional Court does not have a case allocation scheme and is not bound by procedural deadlines when hearing constitutional complaints 193 . Concerns regarding the independence and effective functioning of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights remain 194 . Stakeholders have also expressed concerns about the impartiality of the State Audit Office, which has imposed severe fines on opposition parties because of campaign financing practices and not investigating similar practices of the governing parties 195 . Similar concerns have also been expressed in relation to the Competition Authority and the Public Procurement Authority which are seen as selectively applying the rules 196 .

Concerns related to the absence of procedural safeguards and effective oversight in case of secret surveillance measures outside criminal proceedings have not been addressed 197 . The execution of relevant judgments of the European Court of Human Rights is still pending 198 . On 12 June 2025, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe urged the Hungarian authorities to adopt measures required to bring the domestic legislation on secret surveillance for national security purposes fully and effectively in line with the Convention requirements 199 . In a new judgment of 28 November 2024 related to the wiretapping of a journalist, the European Court of Human Rights found that there had been no adequate procedural safeguards in place for the applicant to challenge the alleged use of secret surveillance against her with a view to discovering her journalistic sources 200 . In previous cases of journalists allegedly targeted by the Pegasus spyware, the National Data Protection and Freedom of Information Authority found no proof that the bodies authorised to conduct secret surveillance would have used the spyware for any purpose other than the discharge of the duties specified by law and those specified by the company providing the spyware (prevention and detection of criminal acts and acts of terrorism) 201 .

On 1 January 2025, Hungary had 47 leading judgments of the European Court of Human Rights pending implementation, an increase of 2 compared to the previous year 202 . At that time, Hungary’s rate of leading judgments from the past 10 years that had been implemented was at 26% (compared to 24% in 2024; 74% remained pending), and the average time that the judgments had been pending implementation was 6 years and 6 months (compared to 6 years and 2 months in 2024) 203 . The oldest leading judgment, pending implementation for more than 15 years, concerns the violation of the right to freedom of assembly 204 . As regards the respect of payment deadlines, on 31 December 2024 there were 32 cases in total awaiting confirmation of payments (compared to 47 in 2023) 205 . On 16 June 2025, the number of leading judgments pending implementation had increased to 52 206 .

A deteriorating environment for civil society organisations and legal uncertainty further obstruct civic space 207 . The space for civil society continues to be rated as ‘obstructed’ 208 . A new law 209 moves the register of civil society organisations (CSOs) from the courts to a central administrative authority as of 1 January 2027. Stakeholders report that government attacks on independent CSOs have continued 210 . On 3 October 2024, the Commission decided to refer Hungary to the Court of Justice over the Protection of National Sovereignty Law 211 . The Sovereignty Protection Office started several investigations concerning various civil society organisations, notably anti-corruption CSOs 212 , including those receiving EU funds. In some of these reports, the Office labelled the activities of several Commission intermediaries tasked with the disbursement of the EU’s Citizens Equality Rights and Values (CERV) programme as carrying ‘a serious sovereignty risk’ 213 . On 13 May 2025, a draft law ‘on transparency in public life’ was tabled in the National Assembly. On 4 June 2025, it was announced that the parliamentary work on this draft law would be postponed to the autumn session. The draft law increases the powers of the Sovereignty Protection Office, introducing significant consequences for the activities of civil society organisations, media outlets and other entities within its scope, and considerably restricts their access to funding. In particular, the investigations of the Office would serve as the basis for a government decree listing entities whose activities are qualified as endangering ‘Hungary’s sovereignty through influence on public life’ 214 . The draft law sparked protest from independent media outlets and civil society organisations, which deem it serves to restrict critical voices in Hungary 215 . The Commission has voiced its serious concerns about this draft law with the Hungarian authorities 216 . Recent amendments to legislation and the Constitution, as well as their application in practice resulted in legal uncertainty for the organisers and participants of public assemblies aimed at promoting equality and diversity. Stakeholders note that the distribution of public funding continues to be uneven 217 , untransparent, privileging government-aligned organisations against CSOs critical of government policies, which are not able to secure public funding in Hungary 218 . Overall, no progress has been made on the recommendation and the situation has instead further deteriorated.

Annex I: List of sources in alphabetical order*

* The list of contributions received in the context of the consultation for the 2025 Rule of Law Report can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/publications/2025-rule-law-report-targeted-stakeholder-consultation_en .

24.hu (2024), Scandal in court: security guards led out the main accused of corruption in the Ministry of Finance (Botrány a bíróságon: biztonsági őrök vezették ki a pénzügyminisztériumi korrupció fővádlottját),  https://24.hu/belfold/2024/10/21/varga-mihaly-penzugyminiszterium-korrupcio-vesztegetes-volt-helyettes-allamtitkar-karsai-tamas-palkovics-laszlo-barta-eke-gyula-eu-palyazat-kenopenz-miniszterelnokseg-birosag-elokeszito-ules/  

Amnesty International Hungary, Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Hungarian Helsinki Committee, K-Monitor, Mérték Media Monitor, Ökotárs – Hungarian Environmental Partnership Foundation, Political Capital, Transparency International Hungary (2024), Contribution for the 2024 Rule of Law Report,  https://www.amnesty.hu/hungarian-csos-contribute-to-the-european-commissions-2024-rule-of-law-report/ .

Amnesty International Hungary, Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Hungarian Helsinki Committee, K-Monitor, Mérték Media Monitor, Ökotárs – Hungarian Environmental Partnership Foundation, Political Capital, Transparency International Hungary (2025), Contribution for the 2025 Rule of Law Report,  https://transparency.hu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/HUN_CSO_contribution_EC_RoL_Report_2025.pdf .

Anti-Corruption Task Force (2025), Minutes of the Anti-Corruption Task Force Meeting (Jegyzőkönyv), https://kemcs.hu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/KEMCS_jegyzokonyv_20250312.pdf .

Átlátszó (2024), Investigative Outlet Átlátszó Accused of Foreign Influence and Espionage, https://fom.coe.int/en/alerte/detail/107641772 .

Átlátszó (2025), The Anti-Corruption Task Force has not adopted an annual report. (Nincs elfogadott éves jelentése a Korrupcióellenes Munkacsoportnak),  https://atlatszo.hu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/KEMCS_civil_sajtokozlemeny_20250502.pdf .

Bertelsmann Stiftung (2024), Transformation Index: Hungary Country Report, https://bti-project.org/fileadmin/api/content/en/downloads/reports/country_report_2024_HUN.pdf .

Budapest Regional Court (2025), Two former Deputy State Secretaries sentenced to prison for accepting bribes (Vesztegetés elfogadása miatt börtönbüntetésre ítéltek két volt helyettes államtitkárt), https://birosag.hu/aktualis-kozlemenyek/fovarosi-torvenyszek-vesztegetes-elfogadasa-miatt-bortonbuntetesre-iteltek-ket-volt-helyettes

CCBE (2025), Contribution for the 2025 Rule of Law Report. https://ccbe.eu/fileadmin/speciality_distribution/public/documents/ROL/EN_ROL_20250227_CCBE-Contribution-for-the-2025-Rule-of-Law-Report.pdf .

Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (2025), Media Pluralism Monitor 2025, Country report for Hungary,  https://cmpf.eui.eu/projects/media-pluralism-monitor/ .

Civil Liberties Union for Europe (2025), Rule of Law Report, Hungary, https://www.liberties.eu/f/vdxw3e .

Court of Justice, judgment of 6 March 2025, C-155/23, Commission v Hungary (Directive lanceurs d’alerte), EU:C:2025:151.

Court of Justice, judgment 6 March 2025 in joined cases C-647/21, C-648/21, D. K. (Dessaisissement d’un juge), EU:C:2025:143.

Court of Justice, judgment of 25 February 2025, C-146/23 and C-374/23, Sąd Rejonowy w Białymstoku, EU:C:2025:109.

Court of Justice, judgment of 12 September 2024, C-557/23, SPAR Magyarország, EU:C:2024:737.

Court of Justice, judgment of 11 January 2024, C-537/22, Global Ink Trade, EU:C:2024:6.

Corruption Research Center Budapest (2023), Fourteen Graphs and Two Tables on the New Trends of Corruption in the Hungarian Public Procurement 2005-2022, https://www.crcb.eu/?p=3400 .

Corruption Research Center Budapest (2023), The new trends of corruption risks in Hungarian public procurement, https://www.crcb.eu/?p=3450#:~:text=Lord%20Kelvin-,The%20New%20Trends%20of%20Corruption%20Risk%20in%20Hungarian%20Public,January%201998%20to%20July%202023&text=In%202023%2C%20corruption%20risk%20increased,companies%20with%20no%20political%20ties .

Corruption Research Center Budapest (2023), White Elephants in Hungary – Lessons of some EU funded projects, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4403151 .

Corruption Research Center Budapest (2024), Two Communication Companies in the Hungarian Public Procurement Market 2012-2023,  https://www.crcb.eu/?p=3530 .

Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506 of 15 December 2022, OJ L 325, 20.12.2022, p. 94–109.

Council of Europe (2003), Recommendation Rec(2003)4 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on common rules against corruption in the funding of political parties and electoral campaigns, 8 April 2003, https://rm.coe.int/16806cc1f1 . 

Council of Europe (2023), Hungary: anti-corruption group calls for measures to prevent corruption in central government and law enforcement, https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/hungary-anti-corruption-group-calls-for-measures-to-prevent-corruption-in-central-government-and-law-enforcement . 

Council of Europe Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists (2025), https://fom.coe.int/en/accueil .

Council of Europe (2020), Convention on Access to Official Documents (CETS No. 205), https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list?module=treaty-detail&treatynum=205 .

De Tijd (2024), From searched hotel rooms to chased fraud detectives: Hungary spies on EU institutions (Van doorzochte hotelkamers tot achtervolgde fraudespeurders: Hongarije bespioneert EU-instellingen), https://www.tijd.be/politiek-economie/europa/algemeen/van-doorzochte-hotelkamers-tot-achtervolgde-fraudespeurders-hongarije-bespioneert-eu-instellingen/10577507.html  

Direkt36 (2024), EU Investigators Probing Orbán’s Son-in-Law Surveilled, Sparking Intelligence Agency Infighting, https://www.direkt36.hu/en/english-eu-investigators-probing-orbans-son-in-law-surveilled-sparking-intelligence-agency-infighting/ .

Direkt36 (2025), The State Audit Office found huge asset losses and other serious problems at the Hungarian National Bank’s foundation, according to a leaked draft report,  https://www.direkt36.hu/en/hatalmas-vagyonvesztest-es-mas-sulyos-problemakat-talalt-az-asz-matolcsyek-alapitvanyanal-a-kiszivargott-jelentestervezet-szerint/ .

European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) (2025), The situation in Hungary  https://pgwrk-websitemedia.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/production/pwk-web-encj2017-p/Final%20statement%20Hungary%2021%2002%202025.pdf .

European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (2025), Media Freedom Rapid Response – Hungary,   https://www.mfrr.eu/ .

European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (2025), Hungary: Foreign funding bill poses most serious threat to independent media in years, https://www.ecpmf.eu/hungary-foreign-funding-bill-poses-most-serious-threat-to-independent-media-in-years/ .

European Commission, Decision C(2024) 9140 final of 16 December 2024, https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/8003e1ad-8e79-4238-bf76-af1fcd2b5efe_en?filename=20241216%20Decision%20on%20PITs%20notification%20-%20EN.pdf .

European Court of Human Rights, judgment of 28 November 2024, application no. 31091/16, Klaudia Csikós v Hungary.

European Court of Human Rights, judgment of 29 September 2022, application no. 58032/16, Hüttl v Hungary.

European Court of Human Rights, judgment of 23 June 2016, application no. 20261/12, Baka v Hungary.

European Court of Human Rights, judgment of 12 January 2016, application no. 37138/14, Szabó and Vissy v Hungary.

European Court of Human Rights, judgment of 16 July 2015, application no. 48322/12, Gazsó v Hungary.

European Court of Human Rights, judgment of 26 May 2009, application no. 31475/05, Kenedi v Hungary.

European Court of Human Rights, judgment of 7 October 2008, application no. 5529/05, Patyi and Others v Hungary.

G7.hu (2024), The state has spent HUF 1360 billion on Rogán’s communication since 2015 (1360 milliárdot költött az állam a Rogán-féle kommunikációra 2015 óta), https://g7.hu/kozelet/20240219/1360-milliardot-koltott-az-allam-a-rogan-fele-kommunikaciora-2015-ota/ .

General Court of the European Union, judgment of 27 June 2019, Hungary v Commission, case T-138/25, EU:T:2019:448.

GRECO (2019), Third Evaluation Round – Second Addendum to the Second Compliance Report on Hungary on incriminations and transparency of party funding (1 August 2019),  https://rm.coe.int/third-evaluation-round-second-addendum-to-the-second-compliance-report/168096947e .

GRECO (2022), Fourth Evaluation Round – Third Interim Compliance Report, (8 September 2022), https://rm.coe.int/fourth-evaluation-round-corruption-prevention-in-respect-of-members-of/1680a7f171 .

GRECO (2023a), Fifth Evaluation Round – Evaluation Report on Hungary on preventing corruption and promoting integrity in central governments (top executive functions) and law enforcement agencies (9 June 2023),  https://rm.coe.int/fifth-evaluation-round-preventing-corruption-and-promoting-integrity-i/1680ab87f5 .

GRECO (2023b), Fourth Evaluation Round – Fourth Interim Compliance Report on Hungary on corruption prevention in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors (9 June 2023),  https://rm.coe.int/fourth-evaluation-round-corruption-prevention-in-respect-of-members-of/1680ab87f1 .

Háttér Society, Amnesty International Hungary, Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Polgár Foundation, Street Lawyer, Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (2025), Persisting failure to step up for human rights - Background paper on Hungary’s national human rights institution, https://helsinki.hu/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/HU_NHRI_assessment_June2025.pdf .

Hungarian Association of Judges (MABIE) (2025), Contribution for the 2025 Rule of Law Report.

Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (2025), Contribution for the 2025 Rule of Law Report.

Hungarian Government (2024), Government Decision 1025/2024 of 14 February 2024 on the adoption of the medium-term National Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2024-2025, https://korrupciomegelozes.kormany.hu/strategiai-dokumentumok1 .

Hungarian Helsinki Committee (2025a), Contribution for the 2025 Rule of Law Report.

Hungarian Helsinki Committee (2025b), Operation Starve and Strangle: Hungary’s proposed “Transparency” Law threatens core European democratic values and attacks independent civil society and media organisations, https://helsinki.hu/en/operation-starve-and-strangle-2025/ .

Hungarian Helsinki Committee (2025c), He was fired because he stood up for the public interest, but he won’t let himself go (Kirúgták, mert kiállt a közérdekért, de nem hagyja magát), 13 January 2025, https://helsinki.hu/kirugtak-kiallt-a-kozerdekert-batonyi-peter/ .

Hungarian Helsinki Committee (2025d), The Kúria President broke the law when he overstepped his authority (Törvényt sértett a Kúria elnöke, amikor túllépett hatáskörén), https://helsinki.hu/torvenyt-sertett-a-kuria-elnoke-amikor-tullepett-hataskoren/ https://helsinki.hu/torvenyt-sertett-a-kuria-elnoke-amikor-tullepett-hataskoren/ .

Hungary Today (2025), Government Challenges European Commission Decision on Universities in EU Court, https://hungarytoday.hu/government-challenges-european-commission-decision-on-universities-in-eu-court/ .

HVG.HU (2025), We did not get special treatment for free - the Kúria President’s New Year’s message was telling (A kiemelt bánásmódot nem ingyen kaptuk – sokatmondó volt a Kúria-elnök újévi köszöntője),  https://hvg.hu/itthon/20250104_kuria-birok-kiemelt-banasmod-fizetesemeles-Varga-Zs-Andras-ujevi-koszonto-ebx .

Institut für Europäische Politik (2024), German Companies in Hungary. To adapt, endure, or engage?, https://iep-berlin.de/site/assets/files/3853/iep_study_germancompaniesinhungary-1.pdf .

Integrity Authority (2023a), The position of the Integrity Authority regarding the Government’s answer (Az Integritás Hatóság álláspontja a Kormány válaszaival kapcsolatban),  https://integritashatosag.hu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Integritas_Hatosag_osszegzes_Kormanyvalaszokra_20231206.pdf .

Integrity Authority (2023b), Ad-hoc report on asset declarations (Vagyonnyilatkozatokról szóló eseti jelentés),  https://integritashatosag.hu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Integritas_Hatosag_Vagyonnyilatkozatok_Eseti_Jelentes_2023-1.pdf .

Integrity Authority (2023c), 2022 Annual Analytical Report,  https://integritashatosag.hu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Integritas_Hatosag_Eves_Elemzo_Integritasjelentes_20220629.pdf   https://integritashatosag.hu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Annual-Analytical-Integrity-Report-2022-ENG.pdf .

Integrity Autjority (2023d), Integrity Risk Assessment Report of the Hungarian Public Procurement System, https://integritashatosag.hu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/integrity-authority-integrity-risk-assessment-report-310323.pdf .

Integrity Authority (2024a), Conclusion of inquiry III_86_2023 – modernisation of cattle farm (III_86_2023. sz. vizsgálat lezárása – szarvasmarhatelep korszerűsítése),  https://integritashatosag.hu/case/iii_86_2023-sz-vizsgalat-lezarasa-szarvasmarhatelep-korszerusitese/ .

Integrity Authority (2024b), Annual Report to the Hungarian National Assembly 2023 ,  https://integritashatosag.hu/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/integrity-authority-annual-report-2023.pdf .

Integrity Authority (2024c), Annual Analytical Report 2023, https://integritashatosag.hu/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Integritas_Hatosag_Eves_Elemzo_Integritasjelentes_2023_0612_angol.pdf .

Integrity Authority (2024d), Closing of investigation no. VIZSG_27_2023 – abuse involving funds for fishponds in Nógrád County,  https://integritashatosag.hu/en/case/closing-of-investigation-no-vizsg_27_2023-abuse-involving-funds-for-fishponds-in-nograd-county/ .

Integrity Authority (2024e), Closing of investigation no. VIZSG/3/2023 – overpricing of the Operational Programme for Supporting Socially Disadvantaged Persons (RSZTOP),  https://integritashatosag.hu/en/case/closing-of-investigation-no-vizsg-3-2023-overpricing-of-the-operational-programme-for-supporting-socially-disadvantaged-persons-rsztop/ .

Integrity Authority (2025a), 2024 Annual Report to the Hungarian Parliament, https://integritashatosag.hu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/integrity-authority-hungary-2024-annual-report-to-the-hungarian-parliament-1.pdf .

Integrity Authority (2025b), Closing of investigation no. VIZSG_11_2024 – cases of misuse in six Somlószőlős projects, https://integritashatosag.hu/en/case/closing-of-investigation-no-vizsg_11_2024-cases-of-misuse-in-six-somloszolos-projects/ .

Integrity Authority (2025c), Integrity risk assessment report of the Hungarian public procurement system, https://integritashatosag.hu/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Integrity-Risk-Assessment-Report-of-the-Hungarian-Public-Procurement-System-2023.pdf .

International Federation of Journalists (2025), Hungary: Foreign Agent bill targets independent media and NGOs  https://www.ifj.org/media-centre/news/detail/category/europe/article/hungary-foreign-agent-bill-targets-independent-media-and-ngos .

International Press Institute (IPI) (2025): Media Capture Monitoring Report,  Media Capture Monitoring Report: Hungary – ipi.media . 

K-Monitor (2023), Hungarian MP’s Assets: Less Declared and Still not Monitored, https://k.blog.hu/2023/02/15/hungarian_mp_s_assets_less_declared_and_still_not_monitored . 

K-Monitor and Transparency International Hungary (2024), Special report on the 2023 Anti-Corruption Task Force Report: Current issues in the fight against corruption in Hungary, https://transparency.hu/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/KEMCS_2023_civil_kulonjelentes_final.pdf .

Kúria (2025a), The appointment of the Vice-Presidents of the Kúria fully complied with the law (A Kúria elnökhelyetteseinek kinevezése maradéktalanul megfelelt a törvény előírásainak)  https://kuria-birosag.hu/hu/sajto/kuria-elnokhelyetteseinek-kinevezese-maradektalanul-megfelelt-torveny-eloirasainak .

Kúria (2025b), The Kúria President’s letter in reply to the press release of the National Judicial Council and the President of the National Office for the Judiciary (A Kúria elnökének válaszlevele az Országos Bírói Tanács és az Országos Bírósági Hivatal elnökének közleményére), https://kuria-birosag.hu/hu/sajto/kuria-elnokenek-valaszlevele-az-orszagos-biroi-tanacs-es-az-orszagos-birosagi-hivatal .

Kúria (2025c), Contribution for the 2025 Rule of Law Report.

Lakmusz (2024), How does anyone who is not a friend of Fidesz become a ‘leftist’?,  https://www.lakmusz.hu/hogy-lesz-barkibol-baloldali-aki-nem-a-fidesz-baratja-2/ .

Magyar Nemzet (2025), Pressman’s Favorite Judge Releases Drug Lab Suspects, https://magyarnemzet.hu/english/2025/04/pressmans-favorite-judge-releases-drug-lab-suspects .

MEDEL (2025), Contribution for the 2025 Rule of Law Report.

Media1 (2024), ‘Hacked’ public procurement: The Integrity Authority has taken legal action in the case involving New Land Media, https://integritashatosag.hu/en/hacked-public-procurement-the-integrity-authority-has-taken-legal-action-in-the-case-involving-new-land-media-interview-with-ferenc-pal-biro-president-of-the-integrity-au/ .

Ministry of Interior (2025), Monitoring Support Matrix serving as the basis for the monitoring activity of monitoring committee of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy for 2024-2025 (A 2024-2025 közötti időszakra szóló Nemzeti Korrupcióellenes Stratégia Monitoring Bizottság monitoring tevékenysége alapját képező Monitoring Támogató Mátrix), https://korrupciomegelozes.kormany.hu/strategiai-dokumentumok1 .

National Data Protection and Freedom of Information Authority (2022), Findings of the investigation of the Nemzeti Adatvédelmi és Információszabadság Hatóság launched ex officio concerning the application of the ‘Pegasus’ spyware in Hungary, https://www.naih.hu/data-protection/data-protection-reports/file/492-findings-of-the-investigation-of-the-nemzeti-adatvedelmi-es-informacioszabadsag-hatosag-hungarian-national-authority-for-data-protection-and-freedom-of-information-launched-ex-officio-concerning-the-application-of-the-pegasus-spyware-in-hungary .

National Judicial Council (2024), Statement of 19 December 2024, https://obt-jud.hu/hu/birosagi-szervezetrendszer-reformjaval-kapcsolatos-jogalkotasi-folyamatrol .

National Judicial Council (2024), Verbatim minutes of the 11 December 2024 meeting, https://obt-jud.hu/sites/default/files/ulesek/Jegyzokonyv_2024.12.11.pdf .

National Judicial Council (2025a), The NJC President’s letter to the European Commission, dated 23 May 2025  https://obt-jud.hu/sites/default/files/sajtokozlemenyek-mellekletek/Letter-to-Mr-McGrath.pdf

National Judicial Council (2025b), Comments on the proposal to amend justice-related laws (Észrevételek az igazságügyi tárgyú törvények módosításáról szóló javaslathoz)  https://obt-jud.hu/sites/default/files/sajtokozlemenyek-mellekletek/Eszrevetelek-OBT-20250422.pdf  

OECD (2021), Implementing the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, Phase 4 Two-Year Follow-Up Report: Hungary  https://www.oecd.org/daf/anti-bribery/hungary-phase-4-follow-up-report.pdf .

OECD (2023a), A strategic approach to public integrity in Hungary: The 2023-2025 National Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan, https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/a5461405-en.pdf?expires=1710511674&id=id&accname=oid031827&checksum=A968A42BA18AE860769123CD88C99C24 .

OECD (2023b), Implementing the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, Phase 4 Evaluation of Hungary: additional written follow-up report,  https://one.oecd.org/document/DAF/WGB(2023)35/FINAL/en/pdf?sessionId=1700663306729 .

OECD (2023c), Government at a Glance 2023: Hungary,  https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/government-at-a-glance-2023_c4200b14-en/hungary_dacc7f00-en.html .

OECD (2023d), OECD Working Group on Bribery public statement on Hungary,  https://www.oecd.org/corruption/oecd-working-group-on-bribery-public-statement-on-hungary-31-01-2023.htm .

OECD (2024a), OECD Working Group on Bribery cancels High-Level Mission to Hungary, https://www.oecd.org/en/about/news/speech-statements/2024/10/oecd-working-group-on-bribery-cancels-high-level-mission-to-hungary.html .

OECD (2024b), OECD Economic Surveys: Hungary 2024, https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-economic-surveys-hungary-2024_795451e5-en.html .

OSCE ODIHR (2022), Hungary Parliamentary Elections and Referendum - 3 April 2022 - ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report  https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/2/6/523568.pdf .

OSCE ODIHR and Venice Commission (2020), Guidelines on Political Party Regulation, Second Edition  https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/8/1/538473.pdf .

Ost-Ausschuss der Deutschen Wirtschaft – German Eastern Business Association (2025), Contribution for the 2025 Rule of Law Report.

Prosecutor’s office (2024), Indictment in a case related to tender grants obtained through corruption – with video – press release of the Central Chief Investigating Prosecution Office (Vádemelés a korrupció útján szerzett pályázati támogatások ügyében- videóval - a Központi Nyomozó Főügyészség sajtóközleménye), https://ugyeszseg.hu/vademeles-a-korrupcio-utjan-szerzett-palyazati-tamogatasok-ugyeben-videoval-a-kozponti-nyomozo-fougyeszseg-sajtokozlemenye/ .

Res Iudicata - Judges for Social Awareness Association (2025), Contribution for the 2025 Rule of Law Report.

Reuters (2024), Hungary prosecutors probe graft case tape leaked by former government insider, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hungary-prosecutors-probe-graft-case-tape-leaked-by-former-government-insider-2024-03-28/ .

Reuters (2025), Hungary's opposition rallies as Orban pledges crackdown on media, NGOs, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hungarys-orban-vows-fast-crackdown-media-ngos-over-foreign-funding-2025-03-15/ .

SELDI (2023), Bridges to nowhere – State Capture and Corruption Risks in Fiscal Transfers and Public Procurement at the Local Level in Southeast Europe, https://seldi.net/publications/reports/bridges-to-nowhere-state-capture-and-corruption-risks-in-fiscal-transfers-and-public-procurement-at-the-local-level-in-southeast-europe/ .

Service courts (2025), Statement of 14 January 2025, https://mabie.hu/images/A%20SZOLGALATI%20BIROSAGOK%20KOZLEMENYE.docx.pdf .

Sovereignty Protection Office (2024), The impact of the activities of Ökotárs on Hungarian sovereignty,  https://szuverenitasvedelmihivatal.hu/dokumentumok/The-impact-of-the-activities-of-%C3%96kot%C3%A1rs-on-Hungarian-sovereignty.pdf .

Sovereignty Protection Office (2025), The European Commission’s CERV Programme – This is how Brussels turned on the money tap to fund the Soros network (Az Európai Bizottság CERV Programja - Így nyitotta meg Brüsszel a pénzcsapot a Soros-hálózat finanszírozására)  https://szuverenitasvedelmihivatal.hu/dokumentumok/Az-Europai-Bizottsag-CERV-programja-Igy-nyitotta-meg-Brusszel-a-penzcsapot-a-Soros-halozat-finanszirozasara.pdf .

Sovereignty Protection Office (2024), Reply to ACTF Resolution No. 17/2024 (IX.17.) (Válasz a KEMCS 17/2024. (IX.17.) sz. határozatára),  https://szuverenitasvedelmihivatal.hu/hirek/valasz-a-kemcs-17-2024-hatarozatara .

State Audit Office (2025), 25035 - SUMMARY of the Audit Report on the management of the Pallas Athéné Domus Meriti Foundation,  https://www.asz.hu/files/PADME_summary_EN.pdf .

State Audit Office (2025), 25036 - SUMMARY of the Audit Report of the Neumann János University Foundation,  https://www.asz.hu/files/NJE_summary_EN.pdf .

State Audit Office (2025), 25038 - SUMMARY of the Audit Report of the National Bank of Hungary,  https://www.asz.hu/files/MNB_summary_EN.pdf .

Szabad Európa (2024), Overpricing is only one of the tricks – this is how Gyula Balásy gets all state orders (A túlárazás csak az egyik trükk – így tarol Balásy Gyula az állami megrendeléseken), https://www.szabadeuropa.hu/a/rogan-balasy-gyula-lounge-new-land-tularazas/32843686.html .

Szabad Európa (2025), Fidesz is again inciting against judges, attacking them personally and for their judgments (Újra a bírók ellen hangol a Fidesz, személyükben és ítéletek miatt támadja őket)  https://www.szabadeuropa.hu/a/ujra-a-birok-ellen-hangol-a-fidesz-szemelyukben-es-iteletek-miatt-tamadja-oket/33381260.html .

Telex (2024), Former Justice Minister’s ex-husband releases recording he claims proof of high-level involvement in corruption case, https://telex.hu/english/2024/03/26/damning-recording-about-orbans-right-hand-man-trying-to-cover-up-involvement-in-corruption-published-by-former-justice-ministers-ex-husband .

Transparency International Hungary (2014), Lifting the lid on lobbying: national report of Hungary lobbying in an uncertain business and regulatory environment, https://transparency.hu/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Lifting-The-Lid-On-Lobbying-National-Report-of-Hungary.pdf .

Transparency International (2022), Exporting Corruption, https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/exporting-corruption-2022 .

Transparency International Hungary (2022), Orban’s Fidesz to overspend in Hungary’s election campaign  https://transparency.hu/en/news/orbans-fidesz-to-overspend-in-hungarys-election-campaign/ .

Transparency International Hungary (2023), We invite the SAO to investigate campaign spending (A kampányköltések vizsgálatára kérjük az ÁSZ-t),  https://transparency.hu/hirek/proxy-kampany-asz-nyilt-level/ .

Transparency International Hungary (2024), Owners of multi-billion-forint private equity funds must reveal their identity, https://transparency.hu/en/news/opacity-of-hungarian-private-equity-funds/ .

Transparency International (2025), Corruption Perceptions Index 2024, https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2024 .

Ügyvédkör (2025), Contribution for the 2025 Rule of Law Report.

Venice Commission (2025), Hungary - Opinion on the constitutional and legislative amendments concerning the requirements to be appointed Prosecutor General and Constitutional Court Judge of Hungary, as well as the appointment and retirement of judges, https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL-AD(2025)028-e  

Verfassungsblog (2025), Targeting Disciplinary Courts - Why Hungary Is on the Verge of a Full-scale Judicial Capture, https://verfassungsblog.de/targeting-disciplinary-courts/ .

WKÖ – Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (2025), Contribution for the 2025 Rule of Law Report.

National legislation:

Act XLVIII of 1993 on mining (‘the Mining Law’)

Act on XXXIV of 1994 on Police (‘the Police Act’)

Act CXXV of 1995 on national security services (‘the National Security Act’)

Act LVII of 1996 on the prohibition of unfair trading practices and unfair competition (‘the Competition Act’)

Act CLXXXV of 2010 on media services and on the mass media (‘the Media Act’)

Act CXCV of 2011 on public finances (‘the Public Finances Act’)

Act CXII of 2011 on the right of informational self-determination and freedom of information (‘the Freedom of Information Act’)

Act CLI of 2011 on the Constitutional Court (‘the Constitutional Court Act’)

Act CLXI of 2011 on the organisation and administration of courts (‘the Organisation and Administration of Courts Act’)

Act CLXII of 2011 on the legal status and remuneration of judges (‘the Legal Status and Remuneration of Judges Act’)

Act CLXIV of 2011 on the status of the prosecutor general, prosecutors and other prosecution employees and the prosecution career of Hungary (‘the Legal Status of Prosecutors Act’)

Act CXXX of 2016 on civil procedure (‘the Civil Procedure Code’)

Act I of 2017 on administrative court procedure (‘the Code of Administrative Court Procedure’)

Act XC of 2017 on criminal procedure (‘the Criminal Procedure Code’)

Act LV of 2018 on freedom of assembly (‘the Freedom of Assembly Act’)

Act XCIII of 2021 on the coordination of defence and security activities

Act LV of 2023 on Hungary’s central budget for the year 2024

Act LXXXVIII of 2023 on the protection of national sovereignty (‘the Protection of National Sovereignty Law’)

Act LXXXV of 2024 amending certain laws for deregulation in the interests of legal competitiveness (‘the Legal Competitiveness Act’)

Act V 2025 amending certain rules in relation to the Fifteenth Amendment

Act XX of 2025 amending certain laws in relation to the obligation of members of the European Parliament to submit asset declarations

Annex II: Country visit to Hungary

The Commission services held virtual meetings in February 2025 with:

·Amnesty International Hungary

·Átlátszó

·Bea Bodrogi lawyer, media expert

·Buda Central District Court

·Corruption Research Center Budapest

·ELTE Media Department

·Hungarian Association of Journalists (MÚOSZ)

·Hungarian Association of Judges (MABIE) 

·Hungarian Bar Association (MÜK) 

·Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ) 

·Hungarian Helsinki Committee

·IntegrityAuthority

·K-Monitor

·Kúria (Supreme Court)

·Mérték Media Monitor

·Ministry for European Affairs

·Ministry of Finance

·Ministry of Interior

·Ministry of Justice

·National Assembly (Országgyűlés) 

·National Data Protection and Freedom of Information Authority (NAIH) 

·National Judicial Council (OBT) 

·National Office for the Judiciary (OBH) 

·Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights

·Prosecution Service of Hungary

·Res Iudicata - Judges for Social Awareness Association

·State Audit Office (Állami Számvevőszék) 

·Transparency International Hungary

* The Commission also met the following organisations in a number of horizontal meetings:

·Amnesty International

·Araminta

·Civil Liberties Union for Europe

·Civil Society Europe

·European Civic Forum

·European Partnership for Democracy

·European Youth Forum,

·International Commission of Jurists

·International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

·JEF Europe

·Philea – Philanthropy Europe Association.

·Transparency International

(1)      An overview of the institutional framework for all four pillars can be found here . The assessments included in this country chapter do not prejudge any future assessment under Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092, Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, or under Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060.

(2)      Figures 51 and 53, 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard and Figures 49 and 51, 2023 EU Justice Scoreboard. The level of perceived judicial independence is categorised as follows: very low (below 30% of respondents perceive judicial independence as fairly good and very good); low (between 30-39%), average (between 40-59%), high (between 60-75%), very high (above 75%).

(3)      Decision 51/2024 of 27 March 2024.

(4)      Decision 151/2024 of 4 September 2024.

(5)      See Section 123(4) of Organisation and Administration of Courts Act. Kúria Vice-Presidents are appointed by the President of the Republic, upon the recommendation of the Kúria President. See also Kúria (2025a).

(6)      The topics listed in the agreement include: an increase of salaries of judges and court staff; the possibility for judges to serve until the age of 70; raising the minimum age requirement for becoming a judge; incentivising applications from outside the judiciary; centralised training for trainee judges, prosecutors, lawyers, notaries; the Kúria’s role in securing the uniformity of case law at all court instances; extending the territorial jurisdiction of district court judges to the entire area of jurisdiction of the regional court (that is the given county); the possibility of online presence during hearings; the possibility not to hand down reasoned judicial decisions in civil cases if it is presumed that the parties will not exercise their right of appeal; moving the registration of companies and CSOs from courts to the public administration.

(7)    Act XLIX of 2025. 

(8)      See National Judicial Council (2025a) and National Judicial Council (2025b). The Council maintains that the time allowed for comments on the draft law was insufficient, its representatives were not invited to a consultation meeting held before the tabling of the draft law in Parliament and its comments were not taken on board. On 1 July 2025, the National Judicial Council challenged the new law before the Constitutional Court, maintaining a breach of its prerogatives.

(9)      Act LXXIV of 2024 and Act XLIX of 2025.

(10)      Under the new rules applicable from 1 March 2025, candidates must meet two conditions: (i) have gained 2 years’ experience outside the judiciary (new requirement) and (ii) have worked at least 1 year as a junior judge, deputy prosecutor, lawyer, notary public, legal adviser, government official or civil servant, member of the Constitutional Court, judge, military judge, prosecutor, served as a judge at an international organisation or any EU institution or carried out any other justice-related activity (not a new requirement). 

(11)      Country visit, Ministries. The Venice Commission could not answer at this early stage whether these changes will serve, alone and in the abstract, to enhance public confidence in the judiciary and the quality of judicial decision-making. Venice Commission (2025), para. 49.

(12)      Amnesty International Hungary et al (2025), p. 5; Hungarian Association of Judges (2025), p. 9.

(13)      Sections 25/B to 25/F of the Legal Status and Remuneration of Judges Act, as amended. This is in line with the recommendation of the Venice Commission. 

(14)      The 2024 Rule of Law Report recommended that Hungary ‘[i]mprove the transparency of case allocation systems in lower-instance courts, taking into account European standards on case allocation’.

(15)      Hungarian Government (2025), written input, p. 4.

(16)      Amnesty International Hungary et al (2024), p. 11; CCBE (2025), p. 99; Hungarian Association of Judges (2025), p. 8; Hungarian Helsinki Committee (2025a); p. 12; MEDEL (2025), p. 7; Res Iudicata (2025), p. 8; Ügyvédkör (2025), p. 7.

(17)      2023 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 5; 2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 6.

(18)      Kúria (2025c), p. 1.

(19)      In 2023, the Kúria delivered 9 uniformity decisions and 52 uniformity complaint decisions (21 of them being on-the-merits decisions, including 4 having the effect of a uniformity decision). See also 2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 7.

(20)      Section 41/A (1) of the Organisation and Administration of Courts Act. According to the case allocation scheme, the uniformity complaint panel has two subpanels, each composed of a chairperson and 20 members.

(21)      Information received from the Kúria in the context of the country visit. According to the applicable legal rules as interpreted by the Kúria, lower-level courts may depart from Kúria decisions considered incompatible with EU law but must state the reasons for such departure.

(22)      CJEU judgment, Global Ink Trade. The Court of Justice held that the principle of the primacy of EU law does not preclude national legislation that merely requires lower national courts to state reasons for any departure from the rulings of higher courts (para 30).

(23)      Act XLIX of 2025.

(24)      Service courts (‘szolgálati bíróság’), composed of members elected by the National Judicial Council from among judges, hear cases related to the assessment, fitness for office and disciplinary liability of judges.

(25)      Service courts (2025). See also Verfassungsblog (2025).

(26)      The International Association of Judges, the European Association of Judges, the Association of European Administrative Judges, the Association of Administrative Judges (Austria), the Association of Polish Administrative Judges and the Judges for Judges Association expressed their solidarity. The demonstration was organised on 22 February 2025. The ENCJ Executive Board welcomed and supported the fact that the National Judicial Council, the Hungarian Associations of Judges, and individual judges decided to speak out about the need for judicial independence and the threats faced by the Hungarian judiciary (ENCJ (2025)). See also Kúria (2025b) and HVG.hu (2025).

(27)      Judgment 20.M.71.080/2024/13, confirmed by the Budapest Regional Appeal Court on 17 June 2025. See also Hungarian Helsinki Committee (2025d). According to the Government, the judge concerned retained his title and remuneration as presiding judge, continued to serve on the panel – including on the uniformity complaint panel where only presiding judges may sit – and could also preside over panels in specific cases.

(28)      CM/Del/Dec(2025)1521/H46-15.

(29)      Amnesty International Hungary et al (2025), p. 20; Hungarian Helsinki Committee (2025), p. 16. See Magyar Nemzet (2025), Reuters (2025), Szabad Európa (2025). European standards require that if commenting on judges’ decisions, the executive and legislative powers avoid criticism that would undermine the independence of or public confidence in the judiciary (Council of Europe (2010), para. 18).

(30)      See Sections 26/A to 26/C of the Legal Status of Prosecutors Act, introduced by Section 75 of Act XLIX of 2025. The office of Prosecutor General is excluded from the application of this age limit. A prosecutor who has reached the general retirement age may ask leave to remain in service until the age of 70. Contrary to the regime applicable to judges, the Prosecutor General has discretion to grant or deny such request.

(31)      Venice Commission (2025), paras. 29, 43-45.

(32)      2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 9.

(33)      Amnesty International Hungary et al (2025), p. 19. See also, 2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, pp. 9-10.

(34)      The 2024 Rule of Law Report recommended that Hungary ‘[t]ake structural measures to increase the remuneration of judges, prosecutors, and judicial and prosecutorial staff, taking into account European standards on remuneration for the justice system’.

(35)      EU law requires in particular that the determination of the remuneration of judges by the legislature and the executive do not involve the exercise of an arbitrary power and is based on detailed rules which are objective, foreseeable, stable and transparent, and ensure that judges receive a level of remuneration commensurate with the importance of the functions they carry out, having regard to the economic, social and financial situation of the Member State concerned and the average salary in that Member State (CJEU judgment Sąd Rejonowy w Białymstoku).

(36)      The salaries of several categories of key public officials – including members of Parliament, the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and the top management of the Hungarian National Bank, the State Audit Office, the Competition Authority, the Public Procurement Authority, the National Atomic Energy Authority, the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority, the National Media and Infocommunications Authority, the Supervisory Authority for Regulatory Affairs, the Integrity Authority and the Sovereignty Protection Office – are calculated on the basis of the previous year’s gross average salary in the national economy, published by the Central Statistical Office. 

(37)      The remuneration for judges and court managers of the Kúria, as well as for prosecutors working at the Prosecutor General’s Office, is now fixed to the remuneration of the Kúria President. Also, the multipliers applicable to the calculation of the salaries of trainee judges and prosecutors, junior judges (‘bírósági titkár’), deputy prosecutors (‘alügyész’) and staff of forensic institutions have been increased by 0.15. Finally, the salaries of other judicial and prosecutorial staff are now calculated using a multiplier increased by 0.15.

(38)      See Figure 23, 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard.

(39)      Amnesty International Hungary et al (2025), p. 22; CCBE (2025), p. 102. See Figure 23, 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard. The fee amounts to EUR 17 (HUF 7 000) per hour; in addition, the legal aid lawyer is entitled to (i) the reimbursement of expenses, determined on the basis of an itemised statement or in the form of a 25% lump sum and (ii) a ‘preparation fee’ (see Section 4(2) of Decree 32/2017 (XII. 27) of the Minister of Justice).

(40)      Figure 29, 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard.

(41)      Figure 46, 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard.

(42)      Figure 48, 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard.

(43)      Sections 147 and 196 of Act XLIX of 2025 inserting Sections 232/A to 232/D in the Civil Procedure Code and Sections 438/A to 438/G in the Criminal Procedure Code, respectively.

(44)      Figure 6, 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard.

(45)      Figure 12, 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard.

(46)      CM/Del/Dec(2025)1521/H46-17.

(47)      Sections 142 to 144 and 170 to 171 of Act XLIX of 2025 amending the Civil Procedure Code and the Code of Administrative Court Procedure, respectively. The daily lump sum equals 1.5% of the monthly minimum wage (currently EUR 11 or HUF 4 362 per day).

(48)      The National Judicial Council points to the risk of overlaps between the new compensation scheme and the already existing one applicable to civil proceedings, drawing attention to the impact it may have on court resources. National Judicial Council (2025a), National Judicial Council (2025b), pp. 9-12.

(49)      The level of perceived corruption is categorised as follows: low (above 79); relatively low (between 79-60), relatively high (between 59-50), high (below 50).

(50)      In 2020, the score was 44, while, in 2024, the score is 41. The score significantly increases/decreases when it changes more than five points; improves/deteriorates (changes between 4-5 points) and is relatively stable (changes from 1-3 points) in the last five years.

(51)      Data from Special Eurobarometer 561 (2025) and Flash Eurobarometer 557 (2025).

(52)    Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506 of 15 December 2022. 

(53)      The written notification did not concern the partial suspension of funds under three EU programmes.

(54)      Commission Decision C(2024) 9140 final of 16 December 2024. Hungary has challenged this Decision before the General Court; the case is pending (T-138/25).

(55)      Government Decision 1025/2024. A separate Anti-Fraud and Anti-Corruption Strategy specifically for the protection of EU funds entered into force in 2022 and was revised in August 2024. See also the commitments under RRP milestones 178, 179, 220, 221. OECD has recommended enhancing coherence between the two anti-corruption strategies, OECD (2024b).

(56)      The Monitoring Support Matrix is available on the Corruption Prevention website of the Hungarian Government and provides general information on actions taken, updated every three months. Hungarian Government (2025), written input, p.15.

(57)      At least 60% of actions supposed to be implemented by 31 December 2024 have not been implemented within the indicated timeline. As noted also by the OECD and the Council of Europe, a comprehensive and strategic policy approach to effectively tackling corruption, including high-level corruption, remains missing from the strategy. Most integrity and corruption prevention measures target low and mid-level officials and the integrity framework applicable to persons with top executive functions remains weak.

(58)      The possibility of ‘motion for revision’, which allows for the review of the decision by the prosecution service not to prosecute a case or the decision of the investigative authority not to investigate, was introduced in the Criminal Procedure Code by Act XLIV of 2022 to address the concerns raised in the past as regards the accountability of the prosecution service.

(59)      See RRP milestone 179.

(60)      2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 14.

(61)      Country visit Hungary, Integrity Authority. To enhance cooperation with other public bodies, the Integrity Authority proposed to amend and mirror also in sectoral laws the powers it has under the Act XXVII of 2022 establishing the Integrity Authority.

(62)      Country visit Hungary, Government. Government Decree 322/2024 of 6 November 2024.

(63)      The Authority reported not having access to banking, tax and insurance records which is key for investigations. This includes the central register on beneficial ownership managed by the Tax and Customs Administration, Obstacles related to access to data, are also reported in the Integrity Authority’s 2024 annual report to the Hungarian Parliament. See Integrity Authority (2025).

(64)      Country visit Hungary, Integrity Authority. OLAF and the EPPO were also notified.

(65)      Country visit Hungary, Integrity Authority. The President of the State Audit Office has the power by law to initiate administrative court proceedings to dismiss the President of the Integrity Authority. Stakeholders consider that this is a disproportionate response considering the alleged irregularities, and that it risks undermining the independent and effective functioning of the Integrity Authority. Amnesty International Hungary et al (2024), p. 53.

(66)      Integrity Authority (2025). The Integrity Authority addressed 74 recommendations to the Government on the audit system for EU funds, the effectiveness of public procurement rules, the analysis of public procurement data and the asset declaration system. The Government’s position on the findings presented in the Integrity Authority’s 2023 Annual Analytical Integrity Report is available on its webpage. The Government is not required to agree with all of the recommendations, but it must reply to the report and explain how it will address the findings.

(67)      The replies of the Government lack clear implementation proposals and timeline. Integrity Authority (2023a).

(68)      In particular, they considered that it did not correctly reflect the gravity of the corruption situation in Hungary and that their suggestions to the report were dismissed without substantive review. Non-governmental members will publish their own shadow report. Átlátszó (2025). Anti-Corruption Task Force Meeting (2025).

(69)      Country visit Hungary, CSOs. See also K-Monitor and Transparency International Hungary (2024).

(70)      The ACTF reportedly operates in an environment of distrust between the government and CSOs. See Sovereignty Protection Office (2024). The Office states that foreign-funded political pressure groups exploited the Anti-Corruption Task Force to pressurise Hungary. See also Átlátszó (2024).

(71)       2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 16.

(72)      Amnesty International Hungary et al (2025), p. 51, referring to a response by the Buda Central District Court (2024.El.IV.H.17/4).

(73)      As reported by the Government, between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2024, of the 185 motions submitted in separate proceedings, 54 were successful. In 2023, the court granted the motion for judicial review in only five cases, while in 2024 it was granted in four cases. Most recently, after an initial refusal by the police, a logistics deal between the state-owned Magyar Posta and the Waberer’s Group will be investigated following a successful motion by the NGO K-Monitor. This is the first CSO to successfully use the motion for revision. See K-monitor (2025).

(74)      Integrity Authority (2025a).

(75)      In 2024 the Integrity Authority submitted a motion for revision in 12 cases. The prosecution service and the court admitted the motion for revision in every case.

(76)      Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506 of 15 December 2022, recital 46.

(77)      Action 3.9 of the Action Plan to the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, with a deadline of 15 May 2024.

(78)      Amnesty International Hungary et al (2024). See also K-Monitor (2023).

(79)      Country visit Hungary, prosecution service.

(80)      In 2024, integrity checks were conducted on 835 individuals, resulting in nine persons reported for breach of duty for undue advantage.The 17 271 lifestyle checks undertaken resulted in findings that 149 people did not meet the ethical standards.

(81)      Since the Constitution Protection Office is a national security service, the detection of potential corruption by this Office falls under national security rules and remains undisclosed. The legality and compliance with the law of the investigations carried out, including the question of a possible criminal prosecution, is overseen by the designated prosecution service. No data on detected corruption cases is available. See also 2023 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 14.

(82)      Country visit Hungary, prosecution service.

(83)      Country visit Hungary, prosecution service.

(84)      The 2024 Rule of Law Report recommended to Hungary to ‘[e]stablish a robust track record of investigations, prosecutions, and final judgments for high-level corruption cases’.

(85)      Country visit Hungary, prosecution service.

(86)      Financial data relevant for investigations is spread over numerous separate state registers. The new IT system for the handling of sensitive documents was originally planned to be supported under the RRP and fully functional and operational by Q2 2024, see 2023 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 16, and RRP milestone 180. In addition, a new case management IT system facilitating administrative work, and the exchange of non-sensitive information is also planned under the RRP to be fully functional and operational by the end of 2025, see RRP milestone 181.

(87)      A total of 164 investigations for corruption crimes were completed, with 120 procedures resulting with an indictment. Hungarian Government (2025), written input, Annex, pp. 1-2.

(88)      Hungarian Government (2025), written input, p. 24. In 2023, there were 364 final convictions. In November 2024, four defendants out of 54 were sentenced to prison at first instance in a corruption case involving primarily EU funds (Prosecution service (2024)). In another case, the court-imposed prison sentences on three people, and another defendant was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence in a bribery case related to land tenders (Budapest Regional Court (2025)).

(89)      Allegations of evidence-tampering by the prosecution service upon Government instructions and the obstruction of justice by the Government in this high-level corruption case involving a former state secretary of the Ministry of Justice and the chief bailiff prompted the prosecution service to initiate investigations for failure to report bribery. See Reuters (2024) and Telex (2024).

(90)      The case involves 54 defendants and concerns a vast corruption network manipulating public tenders. Officials from multiple ministries were implicated, including the Finance Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office. Prosecutor’s Office (2024).

(91)      Country visit, Transparency International Hungary and K-monitor. See also Council of Europe (2023) and Amnesty International Hungary et al (2025), p. 50.

(92)      Transparency International Hungary and K-Monitor (2024). In one case involving a former Member of Parliament indicted in 2019, the court case has restarted from the first hearing for the fourth time in 2024. Amnesty International Hungary et al (2025), p. 51.

(93)      See 2024 Rule of Law report, Hungary, p. 19. See also GRECO (2022), p. 6, paras. 31-35; GRECO (2023b), p. 29, para. 126, pointing at hierarchical pressure on police officers to discontinue investigations in certain sensitive cases.

(94)      OECD (2023). See also OECD (2024).

(95)      The 2024 Rule of Law Report recommended to Hungary to ‘[a]dopt comprehensive reforms on lobbying and revolving doors [...] providing for effective oversight and enforcement’.

(96)      Country visit, Hungarian Government.

(97)      See GRECO (2022), paras. 9-10.

(98)      Country visit Hungary, National Assembly.

(99)      Action 2.1 of the Action Plan. The monitoring table indicates that the Ministry of Justice held consultations during which it has been established that Government Decree 477/2024 of 31 December 2024 on the procedure to be followed in relation to protocol gifts is sufficient for the fulfilment of Action 2.1.

(100)      2023 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, pp. 18-20. See also GRECO (2023a), p. 56.

(101)      The 2024 Rule of Law Report recommended to Hungary to ‘further improve the system of asset declarations, providing for effective oversight and enforcement’.

(102)      The Action Plan mandates the Ministry of Justice to create the possibility to submit asset declarations electronically, to consider extending the personal scope and to introduce an effective, proportionate, and dissuasive administrative and criminal sanctions’ regime by April 2024.

(103)      2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 22.

(104)      Integrity Authority (2023b). In the context of the case report on asset declarations, the Authority has submitted to the Ministry of Justice concrete proposals for amendments to the law. The recommendations include the creation of a dedicated electronic platform for submission of asset declarations, introduction of an adequate sanctions regime, streamlining the verification process and automatic comparison of asset declarations with external databases. See the Government’s position on the findings presented in the Integrity Authority’s 2023 Annual Analytical Integrity Report.

(105)      Country visit Hungary, CSOs and the Integrity Authority. 2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 22. Private equity funds, fiduciary asset management arrangements and non-taxable revenues are not included in the declarations, which means they are not subject to general oversight and access by the Integrity Authority. Moreover, the registration of beneficial ownership information for private equity funds is not required by law. An infringement procedure (INFR(2023)2098) against Hungary was launched in July 2024 for non-compliance with the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive.

(106)      The Commission sent another letter of formal notice to Hungary in this regard on 7 May 2025.

(107)      There is no obligation to regularly monitor, check the correctness or the completeness of the declarations. Verification of asset declarations is only triggered by notification of suspicions. Any possible follow-up is at the discretion of the public official’s employer or, in case of members of Parliament and other high-ranking officials, of the Immunity Committee. GRECO also found that the verification of declarations was clearly insufficient (GRECO (2023), p. 4, para. 3). Members of Parliament continued largely to submit their asset declarations on paper. In 2025, 63 used electronic submission, while 134 completed the declaration on paper. Country visit Hungary, National Assembly.

(108)      Country visit Hungary, National Assembly.

(109)      Act LXXV of 2024 applies to declarations of assets and conflict of interest and introduces time limits for all procedural acts. The substantive examination remains with the Committee on Immunity.

(110)      Act XX of 2025. Asset declarations to be submitted by MEPs are identical in format and detail to those required of national members of Parliament. 

(111)      Important weaknesses, risks and shortcomings remain as regards elements of the asset declaration system which create possible loopholes undermining the effectiveness of the measure were also identified by the Communication on the application of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 (15 January 2024). Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/2506 of 15 December 2022, recital 41.

(112)      Hungarian Government (2025), written input, p. 11. This will be part of the upcoming codes of conduct.

(113)      Country visit, National Assembly. It contains guidance for the proper management of conflicts of interest.

(114)      Hungarian Government (2025), written input, pp. 16-17. This includes a draft methodological guide for local authorities and revised code of ethics and rules of ethical procedure for law enforcement officials.

(115)      Country visit Hungary, National Assembly.

(116)      2023 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, pp. 21-23.

(117)      State Audit Office (2025). The State Audit Office found that nearly EUR 1.3 billion were affected by opaque and overpriced real estate and art acquisitions, complex and risky investment structures, and significant financial benefits directed towards companies linked to the son of the National Bank’s then governor. It also found that the decision of the public interest trust to invest in bonds issued by the fund manager of the National Bank’s own trusts violated the conflict of interest provision of the deed of foundation.

(118)      Information concerning guidance on the functioning of the protected electronic submission system, the complaint process, whistleblower protections, and the availability of state support measures is available on the website of the Office. Hungarian Government, written input, p. 18. See Actions 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5 of the Action Plan to the National Anti-Corruption Strategy.

(119)      See also the Special Eurobarometer 584 on Corruption (2024) on the level of corruption reporting. See also Hungarian Helsinki Committee (2025c).

(120)      The anti-lop.hu whistleblowing channel for reports on EU fraud received only 19 reports between July 2024 and March 2025, with investigations ongoing in 11 cases. The Integrity Authority received 172 reports in 2024, of which 90 fell in its remit. In 48 cases the information did not give rise to the opening of an investigation. Country visit Hungary, Integrity Authority.

(121)      Country visit Hungary, prosecution service.

(122)      See also 2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 24. Hungarian legislation includes specific safeguards for certain whistleblowing categories. Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code and Section 155 of the Media Act provide legal protections for media informants.

(123)      See OSCE ODIHR and Venice Commission (2020), para. 194. As reported last year, the National Anti-corruption Strategy mandates the Government to examine the enforcement of political party finance rules and the operational practices of political organisations, with an exclusive focus on preventing foreign influence.

(124)      See GRECO (2019).

(125)      See OSCE ODIHR (2022), p. 22. State Audit Office audit findings cannot be challenged before an administrative court.

(126)      As regards political advertising on the social media platform Facebook, financed by third parties and intermediaries, including the social media incubator Megafon Centre training pro-government influencers and promoting their posts as one of the largest spenders on political ads on Facebook in the election campaign, see 2023 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, pp. 24-25; on the level of spending, see Lakmusz (2024); and Telex (2024).

(127)      See 2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 24.

(128)      Act LXVIII of 2025. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has recommended to states to prevent excessive funding needs of political parties, such as establishing limits on expenditure on electoral campaigns. Council of Europe Committee of Ministers (2003).

(129)      Hungarian Government (2025), written input, pp. 22-23; Amnesty International et al (2025), pp. 47-48; Corruption Research Center Budapest (2024).

(130)      Hungarian Government (2025), written input, p. 19.

(131)      Flash Eurobarometer 557 on Businesses’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU (2025). This is 11 percentage points above the EU average.

(132)      Figure 59, 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard.

(133)    SWD(2025) 217 final. The 2024 data on single bids is provisional and subject to revision.

(134)      Based on data from Public Procurement Data Space the share of single-bid procedures within nationally financed public procurement showed a significant decrease of 6.7 percentage points in 2024 compared to the previous year. 

(135)      Corruption Research Center Budapest (2023). On government communications contracts, see Szabad Európa (2024). Regarding EU-related procurement, see Integrity Authority (2024a) and (2023c), with recommendations for the Government. Hungary has committed to reduce to 15% the high share of calls for tenders that result in a single bid under the RRP, while the share of single bids is reportedly significantly higher for high-value, non-EU fund-related public procurements.

(136)      These include supporting bids, collusion or a high ratio of invalid tenders. Integrity Authority (2023d).

(137)    According to the government, these measures are based on the analysis carried out in the framework of the Public Procurement Performance Measurement Framework, reflect international best practices or address recommendations of the Integrity Authority and the Anti-Corruption Task Force.

(138)      Amnesty International Hungary et al (2025). For most of the recommendations of the Integrity Authority, the government did not see a need to take any action and/or did not commit to any action.

(139)      Stakeholders report extreme market concentration in sectors such as communications and IT and excessively long concession contracts, such as the 35-year concessions of waste management and motorway. The share of framework agreements with a single bidder has been rising steadily since 2019, reaching around 70% in 2023 and 2024 (Integrity Authority (2024c), p. 54)). While Government Decree 63/2022 of 28 February 2022 increased the effectiveness of some of these provisions subsequently Government Decree 53/2024 of 4 March 2024 exempted a number of procedures from their application. According to the Government, the use of concession contracts and framework agreements is in line with similar practices in other Member States.

(140)      In April 2024, the Commission opened an infringement procedure against Hungary (INFR(2024)4006) for awarding the 35-year motorway concession contract in breach of EU rules on concessions.      2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 4.

(141)      2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 4. On 18 June 2025, the Commission opened an infringement procedure against Hungary (INFR(2025)2051) for failing to award a high-value exploitation contract for sand and gravel mining sites in an open and transparent tender procedure.

(142)      The 2024 Rule of Law Reports recommended to Hungary to ‘[i]ntroduce mechanisms to enhance the functional independence of the media regulatory authority taking into account European standards on the independence of media regulators’.

(143)      Media Pluralism Monitor (2025), p.16.

(144)      The 2024 Rule of Law report recommended to Hungary to ‘[a]dopt legislation to ensure fair and transparent distribution of advertising expenditure by the state and state-owned companies’.

(145)      On the operation of the National Communications Agency in this field see Corruption Research Center Budapest (2024).

(146)      Amnesty International Hungary et al (2025).

(147)      International Press Institute (2025), p. 21.

(148)      Media Pluralism Monitor (2025), p. 29.

(149)      Media Pluralism Monitor (2025), p. 19.

(150)      See 2020, 2021 and 2022 Rule of Law Reports, Hungary. An overview of the media market, including main players and trends, can be found in the Media Market Reports prepared by the National Media and Infocommunications Authority.

(151)      The 2024 Rule of Law Report recommended to Hungary to ‘[s]trengthen the rules and mechanisms to enhance the independent governance and editorial independence of public service media taking into account European standards on public service media’.

(152)      International Press Institute (2025), p. 18.

(153)      See Civil Liberties Union for Europe (2025), p. 445.

(154)      Media Pluralism Monitor (2025), p. 30.

(155)      2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, pp. 28-29.

(156)      Decision 7/2020 (V. 13.) AB of the Constitutional Court found that the right to freedom of information extends to all public data and judicial remedies must exist to fulfil this fundamental right vis-à-vis all persons handling public data.

(157)      See Rule of Law Report 2024, Hungary. Also, on 5 December 2024, in the context of the enhanced supervision of execution of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the Kenedi v Hungary case, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe called on the Hungarian authorities to adopt additional targeted general measures to address the recurring reluctance of state authorities to comply with domestic courts’ orders granting access to documents, and to ensure that effective and genuinely coercive enforcement tools are available for the implementation of such orders (CM/Del/Dec(2024)1514/H46-41).

(158)      Judgment Pfv.IV.20.384/2024/5. The restriction does not affect access to the decision concluding the administrative procedure.

(159)      An online repository where certain public entities upload metadata on their contracts (not the contracts themselves). As of 1 January 2025, Section 37/C of the Freedom of Information Act – amended by the Legal Competitiveness Act – refers, instead of public entities having a budgetary status, to public entities registered by the Hungarian State Treasury, as defined in the Public Finances Act, thereby extending the scope to public bodies, municipalities, national minority self-governments, municipal associations, territorial development councils and other entities assimilated by law to public entities having a budgetary status.

(160)      E.g. Hungarian National Asset Management Inc., Hungarian Tourism Agency, Bethlen Gábor Fund Management Inc. These obliged to publish data in accordance with the ‘general disclosure list’ (Annex 1 to the Freedom of Information Act) but non-compliance is not sanctioned. The Fundamental Law limits the definition of public funds to revenues, expenditures and claims of the State. The Kúria’s case law (Pfv.IV.20.904/2021/5), confirmed by Decision 3258/2022 (VI. 3.) of the Constitutional Court, limits transparency by relieving subcontractors from the obligation to give access to information related to the use of public funds. This is aggravated by the fact that government entities outsource several tasks (e.g. drafting policy documents, running government communication) to private companies through intermediaries.

(161)      Media Pluralism Monitor (2025), pp. 13-14.

(162)       The Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents (CETS No. 205), also known as the Tromsø Convention, entered into force on 1 December 2020.

(163)      See, among others, the numerous alerts registered by the Media Freedom Rapid Response mechanism.

(164)      See Civil Liberties Union for Europe (2025), p. 449. See also Media Freedom Rapid Response Mechanism and the Council of Europe Platform on safety of journalists which have received several alerts of this nature.

(165)      Amnesty International Hungary et al (2025), p. 68; Civil Liberties Union for Europe (2025), p. 449. Stakeholders also cite a case where journalists were subjected to polygraph tests by the Constitution Protection Office in relation to news items that later turned out to be false.

(166)      Media Pluralism Monitor (2025), pp. 14-15.

(167)      Council of Europe Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists (2025).

(168)      European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (2025).

(169)      Government Decrees 167/2023 of 11 May 2023, 515/2023 of 22 November 2023, 86/2024 of 17 April 2024, 330/2024 of 14 November 2024 and 97/2025 of 12 May 2025 amended Government Decree 424/2022 of 28 October 2022 by extending the ‘state of danger’ until 26 November 2023, 24 May, 19 November 2024, 19 May 2025, respectively. The Government needed an authorisation from the National Assembly to extend the ‘state of danger’. This authorisation was given through Section 2(1) of Act XLII of 2022, as amended by Act XI of 2023, Act LXXII of 2023, Act VIII of 2024, Act LIV of 2024 and Act XXVI of 2025. In parallel, Hungary has been under a ‘crisis situation caused by mass immigration’ since 10 March 2016.

(170)      E.g. Government Decree 5/2025 of 25 January 2025 amended the rules on exemption from VAT at source; Government Decree 25/2025 of 27 February 2025 limited the personal scope of public procurement rules; Government Decree 42/2025 of 11 March 2025 introduced profit-margin caps limiting commercial mark-up on 30 basic foodstuffs to 10% of the wholesale price. Certain emergency measures have been incorporated into Acts of Parliament (e.g. excise duty rules, tax rules, social contribution and other types of tax relief).

(171)      In constitutional complaint procedures where emergency measures were under constitutional review, the average handling time in 2024 was 257 days, far below the deadlines established by the Rules of Procedure. 40% of the petitions aiming at the constitutional review of emergency measures, were decided on the merits. The Constitutional Court also established violation of the Fundamental Law in two decisions (Decisions 9/2024 (IV. 30.) AB and 3323/2024 (VII. 29.) AB).

(172)      Stakeholders also consider that the Constitutional Court cannot ensure the effective and timely review of emergency measures. Amnesty International Hungary et al (2025), p. 75; Hungarian Helsinki Committee (2025), p. 32. See also 2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 31. 

(173)      Act V of 2025 amending Act XCIII of 2021.

(174)      The number of bills proposed by individual members was 14 out of 121 laws passed in 2023 and 11 out of 92 in 2024.

(175)      E.g. the Thirteenth Amendment to the Fundamental Law (which concerned several constitutional provisions, including the movement of military troops and borrowing by the EU) and the Fourteenth Amendment to the Fundamental Law.

(176)      E.g. the Protection of National Sovereignty Law.

(177)      In 2024, the Committee on Legislation proposed 8 overreaching amendments, 7 of which were adopted by the National Assembly (information received from the National Assembly). An example where this technique was used was laws affecting the functioning of the justice system, with no prior consultation or plenary debate.

(178)      Figure 54, 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard.

(179)      Figure 55, 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard. 26% of the surveyed investors perceive the quality, efficiency or independence of justice as a reason for the lack of confidence in investment protection.

(180)      Figure 60, 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard.

(181)      Figure 49, 2025 EU Justice Scoreboard. The data presented reflects exclusively the mechanisms in place at the level of the highest administrative jurisdictions; the same or other mechanisms may be in place at lower instance administrative courts.

(182)      In 2021, the Government approved two decrees which established an official price below the market price for basic construction materials such as sand, gravel and cement. The undertakings that extract those materials – almost all of which are controlled by companies established in other Member States – must also pay an additional mining fee set at 90% of the difference between the official price and the sales price exceeding that official price. In addition, the permits to mine depend on maintaining a minimum level of extraction set by the Government. Since those government decrees were approved for a transitional period – originally only for the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak – the National Assembly also amended the Mining Law at the same time and authorised the president of the competent supervisory authority to adopt similar measures. On 23 February 2024, the Commission referred Hungary to the Court of Justice; the case is pending (C-144/24).

(183)      In 2021, the Government adopted a decree requiring the prior notification of the export of certain construction materials and products considered of strategic importance and granting a pre-emption right to the State on the notified goods. According to the Government, this was necessary because due to its high energy exposure and proximity to the war zone, Hungary has experienced inflation rates well above the EU average. On 4 August 2023, the Commission referred Hungary to the Court of Justice (C-499/23) on this matter.

(184)      Ost-Ausschuss – German Eastern Business Association (2025), WKÖ – Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (2025).

(185)      Government Decree 6/2022 of 14 January 2022 imposing fixed prices (from 2022 to 2023) and 162/2023 of 5 May 2023 requiring mandatory discounts (from 2023 to 2024). 

(186)      Judgment of the CJEU, case C-557/23, SPAR Magyarország concerning Government Decree 6/2022.

(187)      E.g. Government Decrees 42/2025 of 11 March 2025 and 93/2025 of 8 May 2025 introducing price margin restrictions (as of March and May 2025, respectively). On 18 June 2025, the Commission opened infringement procedures against Hungary (INFR(2025)2052 and INFR(2025)2102) for imposing price margin restrictions on non-Hungarian companies. The first procedure concerns restrictions on the sale of certain food products by food retailers. The second procedure covers similar restrictions for the sale of certain non-food products by drugstores.

(188)      INFR(2024)4022. On 18 June 2025, the Commission sent a reasoned opinion.

(189)      Section 24/A of the Competition Act.

(190)      The Constitutional Court could review the constitutionality of such individual measures (see Decision 16/2020. (VII. 8.) AB, para 33).

(191)      2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 35. On 13 June 2024, the Constitutional Court quashed the decision of the Kúria that dismissed the complaint – filed by a candidate supported by the governing parties – regarding an opposition candidate’s campaign activity during the municipal elections (Decision 3210/2024. (VI. 13.) AB). On 17 December 2024, the Constitutional Court quashed the Kúria decision which allowed a referendum on the organisation of Olympic games in Budapest (Decision 24/2024. (XII. 30.) AB).

(192)      The proposal is made by a parliamentary committee. According to the Constitutional Court Act, as amended by Act LXVII of 2024 as of 1 January 2025, while it is still required that candidates for the office of a member of the Constitutional Court have a law degree and be either academics with ‘outstanding theoretical knowledge’ (meaning, according to the law, university professors or doctors of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) or have at least twenty years of professional experience in the field of law, it is no longer necessary that such professional experience ‘in the field of law’ be acquired in a position for which there is a statutory requirement to have a law degree. On 16 June 2025, the Venice Commission recommended clarifying what kind of experience ‘in the field of law’ (acquired in a position for which a law degree is not needed by law) would qualify a candidate to be appointed. See Venice Commission (2025), paras 56 and 62.

(193)      2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, pp. 31 and 35. According to the Government, the case allocation scheme of the Constitutional Court has customary nature. When allocating the case, its President takes the specific knowledge (specialisation) and the workload of members, as well as the pending cases that are interrelated, into consideration when assigning the cases to members. Although there is no statutory deadline for the final decision to be taken in a constitutional complaint procedure, the Internal Rules of Procedure (‘Ügyrend’) establish internal deadlines that ensure the closure of cases within reasonable time.

(194)      2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 33 and Háttér Society et al (2025). According to the Government, in 2024 the Commissioner received 8 853 individual complaints and inquiries, and public authorities demonstrated a high rate of compliance (approximately 90%) with the recommendations set out in the Office’s publicly available and transparent reports. According to the Government, this shows both the Commissioner’s functional independence and his impact in safeguarding fundamental rights.

(195)      The State Audit Office imposed large fines on opposition parties on several occasions (HUF 660 million, c. EUR 1.7 million in 2017, HUF 520 million, c. EUR 1.3 million in 2024). These decisions were confirmed by the Budapest Regional Court (judgments 104.K.701.004/2024/43, 104.K.701.005/2024/40 and 104.K.701.006/2024/37 of 18 March 2025). At the same time, it did not impose fines on the ruling party, despite evidence of similar practices in campaign financing (e.g. buying services at reduced prices, sharing campaign costs with related organisations, etc.) (see OSCE ODIHR (2022), p. 3, Transparency International Hungary (2022) and Transparency International Hungary (2023)).

(196)      Amnesty International Hungary et al (2025), p. 52. For instance, the Competition Authority unduly singled out a foreign-owned retailer by enforcing various rules in an apparent attempt to dissuade it from challenging government-imposed price regulations. Also, the Competition Authority imposed a HUF 11 billion (EUR 26.7 million) cartel fine on a chemical company whose owner openly supported the opposition; on 3 October 2024, the Budapest Regional Court quashed the Authority’s decision as ill-founded (judgment 105.K.706.686/2021/138). The Public Procurement Authority failed to investigate the award of two public contracts from a contracting authority primarily owned by the same Government-affiliated businessman as the winner of the tenders.

(197)      See 2024 Rule of Law Report, Hungary, p. 34.

(198)      Judgments of the ECtHR, 37138/14, Szabó and Vissy v Hungary and 58032/16, Hüttl v Hungary.

(199)    CM/Del/Dec(2025)1531/H46-22.

(200)      Judgment of the ECtHR, case 31091/16, Klaudia Csikós v Hungary.

(201)      National Data Protection and Freedom of Information Authority (2022). According to the Government, Hungarian legislation does not differentiate between professions and professional activities (e.g. ‘journalist, human rights activist, opposition politician, lawyer and businessman’) with regard to secret surveillance when it does not restrict in that respect national security services in carrying out the activities under Section 56 of National Security Act.

(202)      For an explanation of the supervision process, see the website of the Council of Europe.

(203)      All figures calculated by the European Implementation Network (EIN) and based on the number of cases that are considered pending at the annual cut-off date of 1 January 2025. EIN (2025), written input, p. 5.

(204)      Judgment of the ECtHR, 5529/05, Patyi and Others v Hungary, pending implementation since 2009. According to the Government, the length of this process is often due to the working methods of the Committee of Ministers, involving constant monitoring of the development of domestic jurisprudence and grouping together cases concerning remotely similar issues.

(205)      Council of Europe (2025), p. 156.

(206)      Data according to the online database of the Council of Europe (HUDOC).

(207)      The 2024 Rule of Law Report recommended that Hungary ‘[r]emove obstacles affecting civil society organisations and foster a safe and enabling civic space, including by repealing legislation that hampers their capacity of working, in particular the immigration tax’.

(208)      CIVICUS (2025). In 2023, approximately 61 076 CSOs were active according to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office; no forced dissolutions of CSOs were reported. 

(209)     Act LIX of 2025.

(210)      Amnesty International Hungary et al (2025), p. 88.

(211)      The case is pending before the Court of Justice (C-829/24). The Commission considers that the Protection of National Sovereignty Law breaches several fundamental freedoms and secondary legislation in the internal market, several fundamental rights enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and EU Data protection legislation. The European Parliament, fourteen Member States and Norway have intervened in the case in support of the Commission’s position.

(212)      The law has had a deterring effect on CSOs that are members of monitoring committees of EU funded programmes. Also, during the 5 December 2024 meeting of the Partnership Agreement monitoring committee they expressed concerns that the Sovereignty Protection Office can target them for their work.

(213)      Sovereignty Protection Office (2024), Sovereignty Protection Office (2025). Until March 2025, Hungarian entities were granted more than EUR 26.5 million in total for the implementation of CERV-funded projects. Most of the beneficiaries are private non-profit organisations and most of the grants are running. See the Financial Transparency System and the EU Funding and Tenders portal for details.

(214)      According to the draft law, once an entity is listed, it may not receive foreign support without prior authorisation from the tax administration. The potential duration of the authorisation procedure can last 180 days, even where the support is ultimately qualified as not being granted to influence public opinion. Listed entities would be required to request from their donors a written declaration that the support provided to it has not been received from a foreign source. In addition to the restriction on foreign support, entities will be excluded from a state subsidy scheme whereby an entity can be nominated by individual tax-payers to receive an amount corresponding to one per cent of their personal income tax. Senior officers, founders of a listed entity and members of its supervisory committee would be subject to enhanced customer due diligence by financial institutions and would be obliged to make a public declaration of assets.

(215)      European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (2025), Hungarian Helsinki Committee (2025b), International Federation of Journalists (2025).

(216)      On 23 May 2025, the Commission sent a letter to the Hungarian authorities expressing concerns about the draft law.

(217)      The total income of associations and foundations in 2023 was HUF 1 345 billion (EUR 3.36 billion), more than the year before (HUF 1 270 billion; EUR 3.2 billion). Of this, some 40% came from public funding, 22% from private sources, with the rest originating from business and other income. Crowdsourcing remained an important source of income for many CSOs. The majority of CSOs work on a small annual budget (less than HUF 5 million or EUR 12 500) on a mostly voluntary basis, which seriously limits their capacities. This is visible especially in the countryside.

(218)      Amnesty International Hungary et al (2025), p. 90. According to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, funding provided through the National Cooperation Fund increased from EUR 8.5 million (HUF 3.4 billion) in 2012 to EUR 32.6 million (HUF 13 billion) in 2025. Also, the State provides free professional assistance to CSOs across the country through Civil Community Service Centres (‘Civil Közösségi Szolgáltató Központok’).