The result of the vote has not been published, but the LGBTI Intergroup, a collaboration between MEPs, reports that only two of the twenty committee members voted against the statement of support. French MEP Pierre Karleskind (Renew) calls it a “milestone” in a press release. According to Karleskind, the vote means that government leaders will “find the European Parliament in their path” if they attack the European values.
Kim van Sparrentak (Greens) calls it a "unique opportunity to uphold the values of the Union". According to the Dutch MEP, the result clearly shows that the European Parliament believes that there is no place for LGBT+ phobia in the EU.
The vote in the committee does not immediately mean that the European Parliament will support the lawsuit against Hungary. The President of the European Parliament can choose to ignore the result.
Several member states, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Malta, Spain, Portugal, Austria and Luxembourg have already pledged to support the lawsuit.
The European Commission's lawsuit is part of a so-called infringement procedure. The Commission initiated this procedure almost immediately after the announcement of the Hungarian law, which focuses in particular on limiting the visibility of LGBT+ people in the media. After a written reprimand, which according to the Commission was not sufficiently responded to, the Commission went to the European Court in Luxembourg.
According to the Commission, the law goes against the fundamental values of the European Union, the rights of the individual and the rules of the European internal market. According to the Hungarian government, the law is intended to “protect” children and the EU has no further say in this.