Portugal has decided to join the European Commission in a case brought by the Community Executive against Hungary for allegedly violating the core values of the European Union (EU) following the passage of a law deemed discriminatory against the LGBT+ community.
A government source confirmed to Lusa that Portugal has decided to join the Commission in the process and will send “in the next few days” its reasoned opinion to the EU Court of Justice to support the concerns expressed by Brussels in the face of a Hungarian law passed in 2021 aimed at the LGBT community + (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders).
In an appeal filed in court, the European Commission accuses Budapest with this law of violating the directives on electronic commerce, internal market services, audiovisual media services, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, as well as Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, which concerns the observance of human rights and non-discrimination.
The same government source justified the Portuguese government’s decision to join the process on the grounds that it was linked, namely to alleged violations of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, as it was the first attempt to sue a Member State on suspicion of non-compliance articles of treaties providing for respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.
On June 15, 2021, Hungary passed a law banning the “propaganda” of homosexuality among minors under 18, which caused concern among human rights activists and prompted a few days later 13 EU countries to call on the European Commission “to use all tools at their disposal to guarantee full compliance with European law”, emphasizing that “the stigmatization of LGBTQI constitutes a clear violation of their fundamental right to dignity, enshrined in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and in the International.”
On July 15, 2021, the Commission, whose President Ursula von der Leyen called the law a “disgrace”, initiated infringement proceedings against Hungary and, in the light of Budapest’s responses, which it considered unsatisfactory, decided on December 19 last year to cancel sending the case to the Court and any Member State whoever wishes can join this process until the end of March of this month.
Despite a letter signed by 13 member states in 2021 – at the time Portugal did not take a formal stance on its “duty of neutrality”, given that at the time it held the EU Council presidency on a six-monthly basis – so far only Belgium and Luxembourg announced that they would join the European Commission as parties to the process.
Several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) advocating for the rights of the LGBT community have asked Member States to join the Commission’s actions.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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