The European Parliament will sue the European Commission over its decision to release EU funding for Hungary, dpa has learned.
The decision was confirmed following a closed-door meeting on Thursday between the parliament's president, Roberta Metsola, and the leaders of the parliament's seven political groups.
The lawsuit was recommended on Monday by the parliament's legal affairs committee.
The case concerns the decision by the commission on December 13 to unfreeze €10.2 billion ($11.2 billion) earmarked for Hungary that had been held back due to rule of law concerns.
The EU executive said at the time that it was releasing the money because Budapest had "taken the measures it committed to take." But parliamentarians accuse the commission of turning a blind eye to ongoing problems.
Around €21 billion of EU money remains withheld from Hungary, said the commission press release announcing its decision in December.
In a press release at the time, Belgian EU lawmaker Philippe Lamberts, one of the Green group leaders, said: "It seems that the Commission is willing to let slide, for political purposes, the fact that Hungary is no longer a democracy."
On December 12, a day before the commission announced it was releasing the funds, Balázs Orbán - an aide to Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán but no relation - suggested to Bloomberg that Budapest might lift its veto on EU aid to Ukraine if the commission unblocked EU funding to Hungary.
The case will be heard in the European Union's highest court, the European Court of Justice.
