EP committee votes against Hungarian Child Protection Law
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at an EU meeting. Photo AFP, Emmanuel Dunand
European Union
The European Parliament's committee on legal affairs has spoken out against Hungary's Child Protection Law. It did so in a vote on Tuesday.
According to MEPs, 18 committee members voted in favour and two against, EU Observer reports. Technically, the vote is to support a measure from the European Commission.
According to several political experts, the vote is a landmark in the discussion. French liberal MEP Pierre Karleskind called it a "clear message to national leaders: if you attack the values, you will find the European Parliament in your path." That is reported by Hungary Today.
According to Dutch law and politics professor John Morijn, it is "extremely rare for the European Parliament to intervene in a case where it does not have a direct stake." He points out that it is a political decision to deviate from this tradition and openly support the EU commission and a number of member states in this case to highlight the significance of it.
At the same time, the Parliament can still decide not to follow the committee's recommendation.
Expressing
The Hungarian Child Protection Law has been criticised by –especially Western European– countries that call the legislation "anti-LGBT". The law forbids showing LGBT content, gender reassignment or non-heterosexual content to minors, both in schools and in the media. The law was adopted in June. According to Hungary Today, the legislation does not restrict adults from expressing their sexual orientation or violating their rights. Instead, the newspaper writes, it gives the authorities the tools to take more action against paedophiles, for example.
"We believe that the right to sex education of children belongs exclusively to parents. With the adoption of the Child Protection Act, we have stopped all sexual propaganda at the fences of schools and kindergartens", Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga said last month. Surveys show that most Hungarians support the law.
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