Government weekly brieefing about migrant quota fine, Hungarian bus making and stud farms – UPDATE

Budapest, May 12 (MTI) – The European Commission’s plans to introduce mandatory migrant quotas and the 250,000 euro levy member states would have to pay for each migrant they reject violate the European Union’s founding treaties, the government office chief said on Thursday.

Government: Migrant quotas, ‘fine’ go against EU’s founding treaties

János Lázár told a regular government news conference that the EC’s plans also go against the will of the European people and fail to accurately represent the political will of a large portion of the bloc’s member states. The EC cannot force these measures onto member states that reject it, he said.

Lázár called the government’s planned referendum on migrant quotas one of the most important issues of the last 25 years. He noted that the referendum — which parliament endorsed earlier this week — will likely be held in September or early October.

Ban certain tobacco products and introduce uniform packaging

On another subject, Lázár said the government decided to ban certain tobacco products and introduce uniform packaging, possibly still this year. Earlier Lázár said the move was in line with a recent European Court ruling. The ban will apply to menthol and capsule cigarettes.

The strategy for Hungarian bus making

Lázár praised the strategy for Hungarian bus making introduced by the government on Wednesday. He said the strategy will aim to cooperate with local councils, Budapest district councils and state-owned companies on public transport projects in order to strengthen the national industry.

New stud farm law?

The government will draw up a separate law for the regulation of the Mezőhegyes model stud farm, Lázár said. The project will strengthen traditions, plant and animal breeding and seed propagation research.

UPDATE

Government to reorganise public school system

The government has devised a plan to reorganise the “currently inadequate” public school system to ensure that students are given a competitive education, Lazar said.

The government will establish a so-called “Klebelsberg education centre” that will oversee 57 school district centres, Lázár told a weekly news conference. These school district centres will be responsible for managing public schools and will be free to manage their own finances.

Headmasters will exercise employer authority and will be partially responsible for their schools’ finances, he said.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters