Hungarian parliament rejects ‘political pressure’ in declaration

Hungary’s parliament on Tuesday adopted a political declaration, rejecting “political pressure contrary to Hungary’s economic interests”, referring to a European Parliament resolution calling on the country to stop blocking an agreement on the global minimum corporate tax in the European Council.

The declaration’s reasoning said that the EP resolution, passed on July 6, called on Hungary to “immediately end its blockage”, and lamented that “one member state could obstruct the implementation of such a historic agreement”. The resolution also urges the Commission and member states “not to engage in political bargaining” and to “refrain from approving Hungary’s national recovery and resilience plan unless all the criteria are fully complied with”.

Parliament’s declaration said the resolution was based “on a willful misinterpretation of the institution of unanimous decision-making, a questioning of the culture of consensus and barely disguised threats.” Parliament felt the need to clearly state its stance on political pressure against the protection of Hungary’s economic interests, the reasoning said.

The EP unanimously approved a 15 percent global minimum tax on large corporations operating within the EU last October. Hungary vetoed the measure earlier this year, saying the tax in its current form would spell a competitive disadvantage to the EU and to the Hungarian economy.