Hungary has been a member of the European Union, the great community of European peoples, for twenty years. During the two decades of our membership, the world we live in has changed completely, so perhaps more than ever, the cooperation of European peoples is more important. Many believe that the continuous deepening of European integration is the key to this cooperation. In this context, the role of the common European values that unite the 27 Member States continues to grow. From a legal perspective, common constitutional values are arguably the most important cornerstone of legislation, making it essential to examine them in the context of Community unity. My study will attempt to examine a slice of these constitutional values, the right to life and human dignity, the issue of abortion, through the very different dynamics of change in French and Hungarian legislation. The reason is that, while all States recognise the right to life and human dignity as one of the most important fundamental rights, the issue of abortion is no longer uniform across Europe. The development of French and Hungarian law on the subject may represent the two much-mentioned poles of this divergence, but they are nevertheless comparable, since their dynamics are similar. However, a marked divergence is also clearly visible. While French law, which is constantly evolving with the key role of the legislature, gives priority to the mother's right to decide, the principles of Hungarian law, carefully elaborated by the Constitutional Court, state that the protection of foetal life is the duty of the State. In the light of the above, it may be an exciting question for the future whether a common European set of values can be developed on this issue.
Keywords: abortion, fundamental rights, right to life, constitutional review, French abortion legislation, Hungarian abortion legislation, right to self-determination, comparative constitutional law
"United in diversity" is the motto of the European Union, which since 2000 - almost a quarter of a century ago - has reminded us that a community built for peace and prosperity is a community with an unparalleled wealth of cultural, linguistic and traditional diversity.[2] The statesmen who founded the Union wisely sought the qualities that bind together this community, now enlarged to 27 Member States, but they did not overlook the differences that distinguish us and that the people of each nation can take pride in. These differences are still quite strong today, but the importance of common values, including a shared history and culture, is growing. The pillars of European culture are well known, phenomena that have been present and have shaped the continent's life for thousands of years. These three pillars are commonly understood to be Greek philosophy, Roman law and the Christian religion.
European culture, shaped by these values, is also a defining characteristic of the Union. As Article 2 TEU puts it, "[t]he Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail."[3]
On the one hand, the values mentioned here remind us of the process of the development of human rights, which is also largely linked to the history of Europe. On the other hand, however, we may unwittingly be reminded that in many cases there are differences in the most basic concepts within the large family of European peoples. Consider the divergence between the French constitutionalism, the German Rechtsstaat and the English rule of law. Of course, we might think that there are much more universal values, such as respect for the right to life, but digging deeper, we can see that there are also major differences between the various concepts.
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The three most difficult issues of the right to life are the death penalty, abortion and euthanasia. Out of these, a consensus has been reached only on death penalty. Abortion and euthanasia are still divisive, not only at a societal level but also in the legal systems of different countries. While, for example, active euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands, all attempts to legalize it have repeatedly failed in the majority of Member States, including Hungary. In the process, the Constitutional Court has also addressed the issue.[4] As far as abortion is concerned, the situation is even more complex, with radically different regulations in the different Member States. The literature basically speaks of two broad groups of countries, those that follow the indicative regulation and those that follow the time limit regulation.[5]
As far as the right to life is concerned, although it is universally accepted, certain aspects of it - abortion and euthanasia - are highly divisive. Indeed, the Member States' rules on abortion are so different that there are perhaps no two solutions in the Community of 27 Member States. This raises the question whether we can speak of a single European set of values on the subject of the right to life and thus expect common European positions on the issue. My study seeks to address this problem by providing a comparative analysis of the development of the law in two Member States with very different approaches and historical experiences.
One of the subjects of this analysis is France, which, after a long period of liberalisation, introduced the protection of women's right to abortion in its constitution in March 2024.[6] This move has been hailed by the media as a world leader and President Macron, among others, has communicated his country's ambition to be a model for those around the world fighting for the extension of abortion rights.
The other subject of comparison is Hungary, which is accused of constantly restricting access to abortion by European public opinion and has been used as a negative example in the French constitutional process.[7] Of course, there are also counter-arguments to this criticism, but it is clear that Hungarian law sees the foetus as a value to be protected, and its choice of values differs from the position of French law, which emphasises the freedom of choice of the mother.
In my study, therefore, I will attempt to outline and compare the legal developments in these two countries concerning the phenomenon of abortion. In many respects, these countries are currently at different poles of European regulation, but they are nevertheless very comparable. In doing so, I will try to explore the question of whether there are common European values on abortion and, if so, what they are.
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Visszaugrás
