The Towers of the European Court of Justice are seen in Luxembourg on January 26, 2017 REUTERS Francois Lenoir File Photo
BRUSSELS, December 2, the European Union's top court should dimiss a challenge by Poland and Hungary to a new tool that would give cash payments to member states that don't comply with the bloc's rules on democracy, according to a legal opinion released on Thursday.
While the advocate general's opinion is not binding on the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice ECJ - which is the EU's top court - the tribunal usually follows when it delivers its final ruling.
The opinion said that the new policing mechanism does not overstep the EU competences laid out in the bloc's treaties, as had been argued by Warsaw and Budapest.
Hungary's self-styled illiberal prime minister Viktor Orban and his allied eurosceptic Law and Justice PiS party in Warsaw have fought liberal EU countries and the bloc's executive in Brussels over the rights of women, LGBT people and migrants, as well as freedom of media, courts and academia.
While rights activists have been alarming about the rule of law, Orban and the PiS enjoy steady support on the back of broad public spending, nationalist rhetoric and conservative policies.
The EU has failed to force the two formerly communist member countries on its eastern flank to change tack, but last year agreed that the new mechanism would withhold funding from the bloc's shared budget to those violating common laws, including human and citizen rights.
The tool is yet to be used and the eventual ECJ ruling will determine whether it has more teeth than the democratic safeguards previously in place.
Since joining the EU in 2004, Poland has been a beneficiary of the bloc's development funds, which are meant to help poorer member countries catch up with those better-off.
As the country of 38 million people gets richer, it would become a net contributor rather than a beneficiary of EU funds.
A lawmaker with a junior coalition party, known for its hard line rhetoric last month, said last month that Poland could hold a referendum on leaving the EU in 2027 when the current long-term budget ends.