The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that Hungary violated European Union laws on freedom of expression by shutting down the country’s Klubrádió station.
The decision yesterday highlights escalating tension between Brussels and Budapest.
The Hungarian Klubrádió, founded in 1999 and known to be critical of the government, was taken off the air in 2021 by the Hungarian Media Council ( NMHH).
The station initially signed a contract in 2014 with NMHH for seven years, renewable for five years. Under Hungarian law, media groups have an obligation to report broadcasting quotas monthly. That was twice infringed by Klubrádió and automatically resulted in the refusal of an application renewal, the media council ruled.
A call for tenders was published by the NMHH but Klubrádio’s was declared invalid because of programming errors and negative net worth over the five years preceding the submission of its application.
The CJEEU said under EU rules radio frequencies must be allocated fairly, transparently and proportionally.
In Hungary, the automatic blocking of radio licence renewals for repeated minor infringements was deemed disproportionate by the court. In addition, it said the rejection of Klubrádió’s application was also excessive, based on errors that could have been easily corrected and financial reasons that were not required by the rules.
The CJEU noted that Hungary acted too late, with the refusal and tender process delayed past deadlines, violating the principle of good administration.
Finally, it found that Hungary violated Article 11 on the freedom of expression and information because these decisions effectively blocked Klubrádió from broadcasting, although its mistakes were only minor or formal and should not have stopped it from operating.
Klubrádió welcomed the ruling yesterday but said but doubted it would be given back a radio frequency anytime soon.
