Eurosummer spreads wide, it penetrates the work life of many professions in the summer months. Even if it’s just a bit more relaxed approach to the working hours, although probably not as luxurious as the parliamentary recess across Europe. The summer recess in parliaments is nothing new or surprising, but it sparked my interest when I read multiple international news stories about issues that will be tackled once the summer recess is over. To my own surprise, the dates are not static, and are decided annually.
A lot of countries’ parliaments start their recess around these days. Have a look at our interactive map below to see which country’s parliament has it the best, or compare your neighboring countries. In most countries, despite the recess the parliament can still meet in special situations, in Slovakia, this happened last year. Italy, Malta and Slovenia are on top of the list with the time their parliaments are in recess spending over approximately 70 days without parliamentary sessions.
The main idea behind the parliamentary recess is to give MPs a time to reconnect with their electorate, and come back to the legislation that was passed or needs more work. A lot of politicians can spend this time reconnecting with the public in the regions. No new laws are passed and debates do not take place.
Which big topics were discussed before summer around Europe?
Big Talk About Big Tech on Pause
One of the cases that has to wait until the end of the summer recess is an investigation into X, for breaking the digital transparency rules. The investigation was meant to conclude before summer, while the Commission was also fighting on the trade front since April, saying that the issues are intertwined and need to be solved together. Already in April, despite the pressures from the US, the EU decided for fines of €700 million for Apple and Meta for breaching the European Union rules. However, these fines fall under the Digital Markets Act, unlike the investigation into X, falling under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Budget Talks in the European Parliament on Pause
The beginning of July was significant for the European Parliament, with the last plenary sessions taking place between 7-10th of July, ahead of the summer recess. Von der Leyen faced the confidence vote (which she passed), first in a decade. The parliament adopted a new position on energy security, focusing on infrastructure and security of supply along with an extension of the EU’s gas storage scheme.
Additionally, a discussion took place on the long-term budget, otherwise (and officially) known as the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), which gives structure to the budget of EU for 2028-2034. This point of discussion was accompanied by a leak of information circulating around the time of the plenary sessions. This budget is accompanied by a lot of secrecy, led by von der Leyen and her consolidation of power. The new MFF will likely have a new structure, with three pillars: agriculture and cohesion funds, competitiveness, innovation and strategic investment, and the third encompassing all external instruments, as reported by Euronews.
Slovakia’s Deterioration of Democracy on Pause
Slovakia’s amendment to the constitution also needs to wait. The changes include stating that parents are a woman and a man, along with a definition of gender based on biological criteria. These changes have been heavily criticized, among other reasons, also questioning whether this is really the main issue that the country is facing, with costs of living staying staggeringly high. Additionally, the change should also tackle the pay gap in employment and adoptions of children. The aim is to achieve “sovereignty in culture and ethics-related” questions.
The changes to the constitutions are not meeting the EU standards in regards to basic human rights and freedoms, and in its last form, they warned that Slovakia would not have been eligible to enter the EU. NGOs pointed out that the LGBTI+ community serves to mask the real processes that go on behind the scenes, weakening the democratic process and passing laws in the name of sovereignty.
Another vetoed law that got sent back to the parliament was the so-called “Covid amnesties”, which proposed a compensation for people who broke pandemic rules – yes, you read this correctly. Eventually, the president pushed back on the legislation, saying that he could not look in the eyes of the families of the victims of covid-19 pandemic.
Refresher News contacted all 150 MPs to ask about what their plans for summer recess are. Only 22 of them replied, and out of these, the MPs plan vacations with families, but mostly still, work. They plan to meet people across Slovakia or prepare new legislation.
Hungary’s Controversial “Foreign Agent” Law on Pause
Another law that fell victim to the summer recess is the controversial anti-NGO law in Hungary. Aimed at organizations that receive foreign funding, this law faced massive backlash by the public and civil society watchdogs, warning against the threats it poses for civil society and independent media. Nearly a 100 editors-in-chief and media directors signed an open letter, asking the EU to help them protect the free press and civil society in Hungary.
The party of Hungary’s Prime Minister, Fidesz, introduced the legislation which allows to blacklist, monitor and penalise organisations that receive foreign funding. The law, being compared to Russia’s “foreign” agent law, was supposed to be voted on in the middle of June. However, the parliament had to postpone the vote, following proposals on changes in the law.