With Europe in the grips of the coronavirus epidemic, the Hungarian parliament approved laws giving Prime Minister Viktor Orbán new powers to fight the virus and rule by decree without a set time limit.

The move drew strong criticism from civil rights groups and international institutions, which warned that it gave the Hungarian leader unprecedented scope to pursue a crackdown on critics and dismantle democratic checks and balances. Members of the European Parliament voiced fears that the bill spells the end of Hungarian democracy and called for a European response. Former Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker urged EU leaders in POLITICO's Brussels Playbook not to be "wishy-washy" but to call out Hungary's actions in "plain language."

POLITICO asked: What, concretely, should Europe do?

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Set up a permanent monitor

Dacian Cioloș is president of the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament.

The Hungarian government has exploited the coronavirus crisis to escalate the erosion of fundamental rights and democratic safeguards. This is unacceptable.

More than ever, the situation calls for strong and bold opposition, and I fully support the strong leadership that Hungary's Momentum Party is providing in these testing times for democracy.

Europe, too, needs to do whatever it takes to restore democracy in Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has crossed a line and needs to feel the consequences.

In the European Council, leaders need to hold a serious debate on Article 7. They should also commit to ensuring that any money allocated to Hungary as part of the next long-term EU budget (MFF) is conditional on Budapest's adherence to the rule of law.

More immediately, the European Commission should propose an appropriate mechanism to make sure that, until democracy is restored in Hungary, all EU funds destined to benefit Hungarian citizens are managed directly by EU institutions. It should also set up a specific task force to assess and monitor the democratic situation in Hungary on a permanent basis.

All the pro-European political forces in the European Parliament, including the European People's Party, also have to be clear and bold in condemning the Hungarian government's actions.

Hungary is at the heart of the European project; its citizens share our European values and deserve the same rights and protections. The rule of law cannot be optional.

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Keep a close eye on law's application

Didier Reynders is European commissioner for justice.

The European Commission fully supports member countries in their fight against the COVID-19 crisis. Of course, emergency measures must be in full respect of our common values of democracy, the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights. They must be necessary, strictly proportionate and limited in time. The Commission will continue to monitor developments in all EU countries.

In this context, the situation in Hungary raises particular concerns. We will closely monitor the application of its emergency measures, including the application of the new criminal offense of spreading “fake news” during the “state of danger.”

In these challenging times, legal certainty and freedom of expression must be guaranteed. It is more important than ever that journalists can do their job freely.

The Commission will take action as necessary, as we have already done in the past.

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Take care of the real emergency

Zoltán Kovács is Hungary's secretary of state for international communication and relations.

It’s truly astonishing that now, in the midst of a deadly pandemic, anyone would have the time to debate another country’s approach to fighting this outbreak. These questions seem, as Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said, “a costly luxury these days.”

But if we’re going to have this discussion, then it should begin with facts. Much of what’s been said is not accurate.

Many European countries now have a state of emergency, or emergency legislation, to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. In Hungary, our constitution, the Fundamental Law, empowers the government to take emergency measures and also clearly states that when the danger ends, the state of emergency and its decrees must end.

The law does not dissolve parliament. It empowers parliament, alongside the Constitutional Court, with oversight of government actions throughout the state of emergency.

The law clearly limits the government’s ability to “rule by decree.” It serves exclusively to prevent, treat, eradicate and remedy the harmful effects of the pandemic. The government may not impose laws by decree unrelated to that purpose.

New sanctions are focused specifically on spreading false information that endangers efforts to fight the virus and are worded narrowly so as to prevent them being used as a tool for political censorship.

What should the EU do about Hungary's new law? Nothing. The EU should focus its energies on finding ways to help member countries fight the virus.

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Shut off the funding tap

Pernille Weiss is a member of the European Parliament with the European People's Party.

The idea that the EU should create a mechanism to penalize countries that violate democratic standards and the rule of law is not new. But Hungary's decision to adopt authoritarian measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic makes it essential — and urgent.

The EU's next seven-year budget (MFF) should allow for a qualified majority of EU countries to impose quick and targeted sanctions against a member country that does not comply with the "Copenhagen Criteria" and the fundamental principles protected by the EU Treaty. The most swift and effective method would be to first withhold financial payments to the country in question, followed by financial "democracy penalties."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen should present a revised MFF proposal that takes these concerns into account. The EU's national leaders should also actively work on the idea during European Council summits. Thirteen of them signed a declaration of concern about democracy and crisis interventions in the EU in the light of the coronavirus outbreak. Now is the time to put words into practice.

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Boost funding to civil society

Márta Pardavi is co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has thrown off the shackles of real checks and balances. Hungarians now face a double threat: a pandemic, and an increasingly authoritarian government.

The EU urgently needs to wake up and take action if it wants to prevent the virus of authoritarianism from infecting other countries.

The European Commission has to lead the way and send strong, unambiguous signals whenever EU values and law are under threat. It should launch values-based infringement actions and vigorously pursue them at the Court of Justice of the European Union, and it should prioritize Hungary in its monitoring of the use of emergency powers during the coronavirus crisis.

The EU should not fund the wrecking ball that a member country takes to its rule of law. The next EU long-term budget should include strong rule-of-law criteria. The Council and Parliament should adopt the regulation that makes funds conditional on respect for the rule of law, sanctioning serial offenders.

The next long-term budget should also include significant investment in critical infrastructure for democracy, the rule of law and human rights, as well as more funding for civil society and independent media organizations that promote EU values and hold governments accountable.

The EU's national governments must prove they have a backbone and move forward in the Article 7 process to give specific recommendations on what Budapest has to do to meet EU democratic standards — including, most urgently, a clear sunset clause in Hungary's emergency law.

And finally, it’s time for the European People's Party to see Orbán's Fidesz for what it is: a party with unlimited appetite for power and none for debate. It can no longer put off the decision on whether it really wants Fidesz as a member of its political family.

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Help Hungary's pro-Europeans

Gergely Karácsony is mayor of Budapest.

The coronavirus pandemic has made it more clear than ever that we can only fight threats — to our health, societies and democracies — at a European level.

As the EU allocates support for fighting the pandemic and considers its next seven-year budget, it needs to ensure that it is working with genuine partners. If a government considers the EU an enemy, as Viktor Orbán does, EU institutions should forge relationships with municipalities and local governments as well as NGOs, trade unions, academic institutions, small and medium enterprises and citizens' movements.

To do so, the EU should redesign financial support schemes in a way that allows for more European funds — including regional development and social funds — to be channeled to local partners and it should provide those actors more authority over their use.

There are a number of current initiatives — the European Urban Initiative, the Connecting Europe Facility and the Horizon Europe program, for example — that would allow the EU to effectively support cities or local initiatives and ensure that funds are used to benefit citizens.

Even as Hungary flouts the bloc's democratic rules, its cities and local entities remain committed to building a stronger, more just and sustainable Europe. We need Brussels' support.

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Tackle double standards

Gerolf Annemans is a member of the European Parliament with the Identity and Democracy Group.

The EU shouldn't be surprised that Hungary became the first country to rebel against the EU, after Brussels started to strip away freedoms, specifically when it came to border control and migration. After all, Hungary, with its proud sense of national identity, was one of the first to rebel against the Soviet Union in 1956.

The EU, in advocating for its divisive idea of an "ever closer" EU super-state, has systematically portrayed Hungary’s political leadership as villains undermining democracy.

This is unfortunate, particularly in light of the impressive popular approval the Hungarian government enjoys. It is also evidence of the EU's double standards.

In Belgium, a minority government seized power on the back of the coronavirus crisis despite not having a majority of parliamentary seats. The Belgian parliament granted this "corona government" extraordinary powers, resulting in reduced parliamentary competence. And yet not a single EU leader or institution criticized this move.

By attacking Hungary, the EU is carrying on with its "business as usual" even in the midst of a serious public health crisis. Instead of "doing something about Hungary," we should focus instead on how to stop a rapidly derailing EU.

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Stand up to the bully

John Dalhuisen is a senior fellow at the European Stability Initiative.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán used alarm over the coronavirus to give himself the power to rule by decree for as long as he thinks necessary and to jail people spreading “distorted facts.” The move was true to form for this master manipulator of crises. So was the response.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared “any emergency measures ... must not last indefinitely,” but she could not bring herself to name Hungary. Nor could the 13 EU governments who expressed their “deep concern about the risk of violations of the principles of rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights arising from the adoption of certain emergency measures.”

Sensing room for another unopposed victory, Orbán went ahead and signed up to the statement too.

Those concerned about unchecked autocratic rule in an EU member country shouldn't let themselves be mocked. Three immediate steps would signal they're serious about condemning Hungary.

The 13 EU governments should reissue their statement, this time explicitly denouncing Hungary’s open-ended emergency powers. Those same states should challenge Hungary in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. And the European People’s Party should finally expel Orbán's Fidesz party from its political group.

Orbán’s authority — and the force of his example — has grown because no one has stood up to him. It will wane when his own supporters, and Hungarian voters, realize that he is putting their place at the European table at risk. Now is the time to make this clear.

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