European Commission v. Hungary, Case C-769/22, CJEU (Full Court), 21 April 2026

The CJEU has found that Hungary has committed an independent breach of Article 2 TEU, characterising pluralism not as a guiding principle but as a criterion of legality subject to judicial review. National legislation that is structurally discriminatory towards minorities, even if formally justified by the aim of protecting children, undermines the Union’s pluralist identity, thereby opening the way for judicial review of illiberal abuses by Member States.

Art. 2 TEU
Art. 16 TFEU
Artt. 11 e 21 Charter
Regulation on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data EU 679/2016

1. It infringes Article 2 TEU, Article 3(2) of Directive 2000/31/EC on electronic commerce, Articles 16 and 19 of Directive 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market, Article 56 TFEU, and Articles 1, 7, 11 and 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, where a Member State prohibits minors and adults from accessing content that promotes or depicts homosexuality, transsexuality and differences between personal identity and the sex assigned at birth.

2. By prohibiting minors from accessing advertising that promotes or depicts a deviation from the gender identity assigned at birth, gender reassignment or homosexuality, Hungary has infringed Article 9(1)(c)(ii) of Directive 2010/13/EU on audiovisual media services, Article 3(2) of Directive 2000/31/EC on electronic commerce, Articles 16 and 19 of Directive 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market, Article 56 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Articles 1, 7, 11 and 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

3. By imposing on media service providers an obligation to classify in category V and restrict the broadcasting of all programmes whose defining feature is the promotion or presentation of a deviation from the gender identity assigned at birth, of sex reassignment or of homosexuality, and by excluding such programmes from classification as public service broadcasting or social advertising,  by imposing on the Media Council (Médiatanács) an obligation to request the State to adopt effective measures and actions to put an end to the infringements identified by the Media Council, by providing for a prohibition on professions relating to sexual culture, sexual life, sexual orientation and sexual development from aiming to promote deviation from the gender identity corresponding to that assigned at birth, sex change or homosexuality, Hungary has infringed Article 6a(1) of Directive 2010/13/EU on audiovisual media services, Articles 16 and 19 of Directive 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market, Article 56 TFEU and Articles 1, 7, 11 and 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.