The College of Commissioners is scheduled to discuss and decide upon, on 7 March, the way forward concerning the three accelerated infringement proceedings launched against Hungary in January. The discussion should expand beyond the independence of the country’s central bank, its judges and its data protection supervisory authority and also cover the two other information-seeking letters concerning the judiciary at large and media pluralism. The first step of an infringement procedure - sending a letter of formal notice - was completed when Budapest sent its answer to the three requests, on 17 February. The EU executive then proceeded to translate the 100-page document. Now, for each of the three proceedings, the Commission can either go the extra mile and send a reasoned opinion - one step before going to court - or request further information on specific points or find Budapest’s answer satisfactory. “It cannot be ruled out that on a few points they will immediately launch the next step: a reasoned opinion,” says a Hungarian diplomat.