Court of Justice of the EU

Hungary, anti-Lgbtq+ law violates EU law

For Brussels, this is a historic judgment. The Luxembourg judges challenge, for the first time, the violation of the values on which the Union is founded

by Patrizia Maciocchi

21 April 2026

People attend The Budapest Pride March in Budapest, Hungary, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Lisa Leutner REUTERS

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The biggest case ever brought before the court
The European Commission
Court challenges

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The law, adopted by Viktor Orban in 2021, which stigmatises and emarginises Lgbtq+ people, is contrary to the very values on which the European Union is founded. This was established by the Court of Justice of the European Union with the judgement in case C-769/22 on the minor protection provision that prohibits showing children content depicting homosexuality;

The largest procedure ever brought before the Court

The Court finds in particular, for the first time in a direct action against a Member State, a violation of Article 2 of the Single European Text, which sets out the values on which the EU is founded. The case brought by the European Commission, in which 15 EU Member States have joined, represents the largest human rights violation procedure ever brought before the European Court.

Hungary with 'Act No. LXXIX of 2021' introduced stricter measures against paedophile offenders and amended some regulations of its domestic law toprotect minors. Despite the stated aim of the member state, many of the measures implemented have the concrete effect of prohibiting or restricting access to content whose determining element is the depiction or promotion of divergence from the personal identity corresponding to sex at birth, sex change or homosexuality. Hence the action brought by the European Commission before the Court of Justice against Hungary, forfailure to fulfil the obligations of the Union.

The European Commission

Already in June 2021, representatives of 15 EU countries signed a document condemning the law restricting the rights of LGBT+ people introduced in Hungary by a parliamentary vote. The document expressed 'grave concern' aboutthe law introduced by Viktor Orban which 'violates the right tofreedom of expression under the guise of protecting children'.

The Court's objections

Now upholding the Brussels appeal, the Court of Justice declares that Hungary has violated EU law on several, distinct levels, namely:

the primary law and secondary law relating to services in the internal market;
the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;
Article 2 TEU;
the General Data Protection Regulation.

For the Court of Luxembourg, the changes made to national laws constitute a particularly serious interference with several fundamental rights protected by the Charter: the prohibition of discrimination based on sex and sexual orientation; respect for private and family life; and freedom of expression and information. In particular, the law passed by the Hungarian Parliament stigmatises and marginalises non-cisgender, including transgender, or non-heterosexual persons as harmful to the physical, mental and moral development of minors solely on the grounds of their sexual identity or sexual orientation. The title of the amending regulation associates them with paedophile delinquency, a link that serves to reinforce the stigmatisation of them and stir up hateful behaviour towards them. Interference that therefore infringes fundamental rights and cannot be justified by the objectives stated by Hungary: the promotion of the best interests of the child or the right of parents to ensure the upbringing and education of their children in accordance with their religious, philosophical and pedagogical convictions. The EU Court also emphasised the violation of the right to respect for human dignity. Some of the amendments objected to by the Commission treat a group of people, who are an integral part of a society characterised by pluralism, as a threat to society deserving of special legal treatment, solely by virtue of their sexual identity or sexual orientation, reinforcing their social 'invisibility'. For the first time, a separate violation of Article 2 TEU, which enunciates the values on which the EU is founded and which are common to all member states, is also contested. Indeed, those aspects of the amending law that target content that represents or promotes divergence from the personal identity corresponding to sex at birth, gender reassignment or homosexuality constitute a coordinated set of discriminatory measures that manifestly and particularly seriously infringe the rights of non-cisgender, including transgender, or non-heterosexual persons, as well as the values of respect for human dignity, equality and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.

The reactions

Brussels entrusts to the statement of a spokesperson of theEU executive its satisfaction with the verdict of the EU Court of Justice regarding the so-called Hungarian Child Protection Act.

"We welcome today's historic Court ruling. The Court ruled that by adopting the contested law, the so-called Child Protection Act, Hungary violated several internal market rules and several fundamental rights" and "confirmed that Hungary acted in violation of the founding values of the European Union, enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on the EU. It is therefore the first time that the Court has found such a violation of a fundamental Treaty provision relating to the values of the EU. In so doing, the Court upheld the Commission's arguments'.

He also applauds the Court's ruling Alessandro Zan, member of the PD national secretariat and MEP. "Today the EU Court of Justice dismantles Orbán's propaganda and affirms a very clear principle: no member state can use the law to discriminate or make people invisible on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. It is a victory for the fundamental rights and values of the EU'.

The rapporteur in the European Parliament for the situation on the State of Law in Hungary, the Green MEP Tineke Strik, calls on the Commission to go down the Luxembourg road again to defend EU law

"Today's ruling is a great victory for European values has repercussions also outside Hungary, as it clarifies that our principles, enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, are not only enforceable through political mechanisms, but also directly actionable before the Court of Justice. I therefore urge the Commission to continue to use this route whenever serious and systematic violations of the fundamental values of the EU occur'. Now, she stressed, it is 'up to the new Hungarian government to ensure that the implementation of this ruling, for the genuine and full restoration of the rights of this community, is at the heart of its plans for the restoration of the rule of law'