http://dx.doi.org/10.59704/5a9c28ccc431ec4f https://verfassungsblog.de/three-readings-of-one-decision/ Three Readings of One Decision - Case C-225/24 and the Limits of Procedural Depoliticisation Demopoulou, Joanna eng 2026-05-29 electronic resource text/html ddc:342 Advocate General Tamara Ćapeta Article 296 TFEU Case C-225/24 EU Hungary Ungarn cohesion funds conditionality mechanism freezing funds EU Ungarn Verfassungsblog Verfassungsblog--2366-7044 CC BY-SA 4.0 The dominant reading of the December 2023 unfreezing of funds for Hungary – most recently restated on this blog, following Advocate General Tamara Ćapeta’s February Opinion proposing its annulment – describes that release as “clearly a political ploy at European Council level to get Orbán to lift his veto for support to Ukraine”. The authors argue that the mechanism must be insulated from political bargaining if it is to retain credibility. Their diagnosis of what went wrong is sharp. Their assumption about what would constitute going right may be less secure.