Europäische Union

President Costa and President von der Leyen received letters of credence from thirteen new Ambassadors to the European Union.

Die Vertreter der Regierungen der Mitgliedstaaten haben heute einen Richter beim Gericht ernannt.

Der Rat hat eine bilaterale Unterstützungsmaßnahme im Rahmen der EFF in Höhe von 15 Mio. € angenommen, um die Einsatzbereitschaft der Streitkräfte Senegals im Rahmen der Jaunde-Architektur zu stärken.

Der Rat hat sich auf neue Vorschriften geeinigt, um die Bekämpfung des Mehrwertsteuerbetrugs in der EU durch eine vertiefte Zusammenarbeit zwischen den Mitgliedstaaten, der EUStA und dem OLAF zu verstärken.

President of the European Council António Costa presented the outcome of the 1st EU-Armenia summit held in Yerevan (Armenia) on 5 May 2026.

On 5 May 2026, the European Union and Armenia held their first-ever summit in Yerevan. During the summit, leaders adopted a joint declaration reaffirming the EU’s steadfast commitment to further strengthen its relations with Armenia and to support Armenia's sovereignty, resilience, and comprehensive reform agenda.

On 5 May 2026, European Council President António Costa attended the EU-Armenia summit in Yerevan, Armenia. In his opening remarks, he emphasised the EU’s commitment to deepen its engagement with Armenia, and to strengthen sectorial cooperation across new areas.

Remarks by Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis on the EU’s response to the current economic and energy price situation, financial stability, cross-border banking in the EU and digital finance.

President of the European Council, António Costa, outlined the main results of the discussions of the leaders during the meeting of the European Political Community held in Yerevan, Armenia, on 4 May 2026.

Die Tagung des Europäischen Rates wird am 18./19. Juni 2026 im Europa-Gebäude in Brüssel stattfinden.

Informationen über die Akkreditierungsanforderungen für den Jahresausweis (2026)

On May 4, the President of the European Council, António Costa, participated in the Meeting of the European Political Community in Yerevan, Armenia.

Am Welttag der Pressefreiheit bekräftigt die Europäische Union ihr entschlossenes Engagement für die Verteidigung der Unabhängigkeit der Medien und der Sicherheit von Journalistinnen und Journalisten als Grundpfeiler der Demokratie, insbesondere als Reaktion auf die zunehmende weltweite Gewalt, die rechtliche Einschüchterung und die Verbreitung von Desinformation.

Weekly schedule of President António Costa, 4 - 10 May 2026.

Der Präsident des Europäischen Rates, António Costa, wird zusammen mit der Präsidentin der Europäischen Kommission, Ursula von der Leyen, die EU auf dem achten Gipfeltreffen EU-Mexiko vertreten, das am 22. Mai 2026 in Mexiko-Stadt stattfinden wird. Präsidentin Claudia Sheinbaum wird Mexiko vertreten.

European Council President António Costa addressed the press following his meeting with the coalition of Mayors on Housing, in Brussels on 30 April 2026. 

Patrice Aminati, die seit 2023 mit unheilbarem schwarzem Hautkrebs lebt, spricht im «WDR 5 Morgenecho» offen über ihre Krankheit, die täglichen Herausforderungen – und offenbart, dass sie teilweise ans Aufgeben dachte.

Written by David De Groot

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered a landmark judgment in case Commission v. Hungary, concerning Hungary’s 2021 law restricting access to LGBTI-related content.

Introduction

The EU has considerable leverage over candidate countries that backslide on the conditions for accession (the Copenhagen Criteria), including respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law. However, once a country has joined the EU, the EU institutions have far fewer tools to respond should Member States backslide on core values. This problem is often referred to as the Copenhagen Dilemma. In Repubblika (Case C-896/19), the CJEU found a connection between Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) (on accession) and Article 2 TEU, which sets out the EU’s founding values.

The CJEU ruled that Member States may not lower the level of protection of EU values following accession, thereby establishing the principle of non-regression.

Building on that case law, on 21 April 2026, the CJEU delivered its judgment in Commission v. Hungary (Case C-769/22). The judgment is a landmark ruling: the Court found, for the first time, both a breach of Article 1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR) (on human dignity), and a self-standing breach of Article 2 TEU (on values of the EU).

Background

On 15 June 2021, the Hungarian Parliament adopted Act LXXIX of 2021 on ‘tougher action against paedophile offenders and amending certain laws to protect children’ (the ‘Propaganda Law’), which curtailed LGBTI+ content, in particular its availability to minors, by introducing Section 6/A into the Child Protection Act.

On 15 July 2021, the Commission launched an infringement procedure concerning the contested act. One year later, on 15 July 2022, the Commission decided to bring the case before the CJEU; the case was formally lodged on 19  December 2022.

In its action against Hungary, the European Commission alleged violations of the Services, Audiovisual Media Services and e-Commerce Directives, as well as the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Additionally, it alleged a self-standing infringement of Article 2 TEU.

The hearing took place on 19 November 2024, with the CJEU sitting as a full court, reflecting the exceptional importance it assigned to the case.

On 5 June 2025, Advocate General Ćapeta issued her opinion, in which she agreed with the Commission, considering that Article 2 TEU imposes certain ‘red lines’, which are determined by the ‘negation of the values’ laid down in Article 2.

Judgment

In its judgment of 21 April 2026, the CJEU considered that the secondary legislation mentioned in the Commission’s action had been violated, as had Articles 1 (on human dignity), 7 (on private and family life), 11 (on freedom of expression) and 21 (on non-discrimination) of the CFR. Concerning Article 1 CFR – the violation of which marked a first – the Court considered that ‘that association [with paedophilia] and that stigmatisation entail a group of persons forming an integral part of a society in which pluralism prevails being treated as a threat to that society meriting special legal treatment, which results in such persons’ social ”invisibility” being established, maintained, or reinforced, in breach of Article 1 of the Charter’ (para. 489).

Concerning Article 2 TEU, the Court first considered, hinting at the Copenhagen Dilemma, that ‘compliance by a Member State with the values contained in Article 2 TEU is a condition for the enjoyment of all the rights deriving from the application of the Treaties to that Member State. Compliance with those values cannot be reduced to an obligation which a candidate State must meet in order to accede to the European Union and which it may disregard after its accession’ (para. 523).

As to the types of violations capable of giving rise to a breach of Article 2 TEU, the Court held that:

only manifest and particularly serious breaches of one or more values common to the Member States may give rise to a finding, in the context of an action for failure to fulfil obligations, that there has been a failure by a Member State to fulfil legally binding obligations under Article 2 TEU, such breaches being incompatible with the very identity of the Union as a common legal order of a society in which pluralism prevails. (para. 551)

In the case at hand, the Court held that the contested act:

results in the stigmatisation and marginalisation of non-cisgender or non-heterosexual persons, solely on the ground of their gender identity or sexual orientation, with those consequences being intensified by the fact that that law also makes an association between the fact of not being cisgender or not being heterosexual, on the one hand, and being convicted of paedophilia, on the other, suggesting that non-cisgender or non-heterosexual persons constitute a fundamental threat to Hungarian and European society, an association which is capable of encouraging the development of hateful conduct towards those persons. (para. 554)

The Court continued that

Such stigmatisation and marginalisation, which is tantamount to establishing, maintaining or reinforcing the social ”invisibility” of some members of society, runs counter to the values of respect for human dignity, equality, and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities, as referred to in Article 2 TEU. (para. 555)

The Court, therefore, concluded that

it must be held that the [contested Act] is in breach, in a way that is both manifest and particularly serious, of the rights of non-cisgender persons – including transgender persons – or non-heterosexual persons, as well as the values of respect for human dignity, equality and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities, as referred to in Article 2 TEU, with the result that it is contrary to the very identity of the Union as a common legal order in a society in which pluralism prevails. (para. 556)

Outlook

The judgment – while ruling that it is indeed possible to establish a stand-alone infringement of Article 2 TEU without a necessary connection with other Treaty provisions – still leaves many questions as to the circumstances under which such a finding can be made.

In March 2025, Section 6/A of the Child Protection Act, introduced by the contested act, was linked to the Act on the Right of Assembly, which prohibits any public events that portray ‘divergence from self-identity corresponding to sex at birth, sex change or homosexuality’. This was considered a Pride ban. In line with the judgment, such a prohibition would also constitute a breach of Article 2 TEU.

In a joint statement, the Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, and the Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law, Michael McGrath, stated that discrimination has no place in the EU. They ‘warmly welcome the ruling. Ours is a Union of Equality, where you can be who you are and love who you want’.

Read this ‘at a glance’ note on ‘Hungary’s anti-LGBTI law and EU values: The CJEU’s landmark Article 2 TEU judgment‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

La Croatie veut stocker ses déchets radioactifs à Trgovska Gora, à une encablure de la frontière bosnienne, dans une zone sismique et près d'un captage d'eau potable. La Bosnie-Herzégovine accuse Zagreb de violer les conventions internationales et va porter sa cause devant les Nations Unies.

- Articles / Radio Slobodna Evropa, Croatie, Bosnie-Herzégovine, Une - Diaporama - En premier, Une - Diaporama, Environnement, Relations régionales

La Croatie veut stocker ses déchets radioactifs à Trgovska Gora, à une encablure de la frontière bosnienne, dans une zone sismique et près d'un captage d'eau potable. La Bosnie-Herzégovine accuse Zagreb de violer les conventions internationales et va porter sa cause devant les Nations Unies.

- Articles / Radio Slobodna Evropa, Croatie, Bosnie-Herzégovine, Une - Diaporama - En premier, Une - Diaporama, Environnement, Relations régionales