Hungary EU presidency to focus on these issues

Cohesion policy, including issues around demographics, will be one of the top priorities of the upcoming Hungary EU presidency, Tibor Navracsics, the minister of public administration and regional development, told a conference on the subject on Tuesday.

Ministers talk with EESC leaders on Hungarian presidency priorities

The minister said that cohesion policy is instrumental in removing regional differences, promoting sustainable development, and strengthening economic and social cohesion within the community.

He said cohesion policy should be “fine-tuned” rather than undergo a radical reform after 2027, adding that the changes should be made voluntarily. He insisted that apart from the European Commission’s country-specific recommendations the proposals tendered by EU members, based on local needs, should also be given focus.

Cohesion policy should centre on reducing disparities in the level of development across the bloc, he said, adding that a well-functioning policy would ensure the smooth integration of future members, and he called for those countries to be invited to the talks on cohesion policy.

Navracsics suggested that per-capita GDP should be retained as the benchmark for shaping the overall cohesion policy and distributing community funding.

Oliver Ropke, the head of the European Economic and Social Committee, said it was crucial that the EU’s cohesion policy be given new momentum as it could reinforce Europeans’ confidence in the European project.

Promoting the EU requires reducing economic and social inequalities, which should be supported by cohesion policy, he said. Social groups in which employment is lower, such as women, young people, immigrants or people with poor schooling call for educational and retraining programmes, he said.

The EESC will continue to work with the EU’s rotating presidents and stay ready to share its recommendations, Roepke said.

János Bóka, the minister of European Union affairs, said on Tuesday that he had held consultation talks with leaders and representatives of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) about the priorities of Hungary’s upcoming EU presidency programme which is currently being finalised.

Bóka told the press after a special session of the EESC’s presidency in Budapest, representing the first official event under the arrangements of the programme, held ahead of its start, that he had requested the EU consultative body’s exploratory opinion in ten areas including competitiveness, cohesion policy, challenges facing the EU and the future of the EU’s common agricultural policy. He added that he planned to maintain close cooperation with the body during the entire presidency and involve them not only in preparing the priorities but also in their implementation.

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20 days before Hungary’s EU presidency begins

Hungary has held more than 250 meetings with all EU member states, candidate states, institutions and European umbrella groups in preparation for its presidency, Bóka has said, calling the scale of preparations “unprecedented”.

He said in a Facebook post on Monday that Hungary expected 122 extended legislative dossiers, with 55 of them “in the council” and 30-35 dossiers planned to move forward during negotiations between the European council and the European Parliament.

He said that Hungary’s presidency plans 1,500 council working group meetings, with 37 formal council meetings held in Brussels and Luxembourg, 230 presidency events held in Hungary, including 16 informal council meetings, an informal European Council meeting, and a European summit.

Bóka said the staff of Hungary’s Permanent Representation to the EU has doubled, with 265 people in Brussels working on the presidency’s preparations and administration.

He noted today he attended a joint meeting of parliament’s foreign affairs committee and European affairs committee and briefed MPs on the main objectives related to the presidency’s preparations and progress made thus far.