Hungarian EU presidency focusing on creation of new pact – UPDATED

The meeting of the Competitiveness Council focused on preparing a new European competitiveness pact, one of the priorities of the Hungarian presidency, Márton Nagy, the national economy minister who chaired the meeting, said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will submit the draft to the European Council in the autumn, he said. Cutting the red tape on companies is an essential part of the draft plan, he said.

Besides European competitiveness, the first of the two-day meeting focused on speeding up the transition to e-mobility by 2035 and issues around AI. Nagy called for a joint European strategy to speed up the transition, saying that the diverse programmes and funding in member states were hindering the process.

The government will publish an 11-point proposal package on e-mobility on Wednesday, containing points on coordinating e-car purchase subsidies, support for carmakers, development of charger infrastructure, and financing, Nagy said.

He said the current plan to phase out new cars with internal combustion engines by 2035 was “not realistic”, because the ratio of new electric vehicles remains under 15 percent.

Regarding financial resources for the programme, Nagy proposed that the cohesion funds could be channelled into it.

Meanwhile, Nagy said the EU council could decide on making tariffs on the Chinese car industry final in the autumn, “but there is no consensus among member states on this issue either”. Hungary’s government will not support “protectionist measures that would curb the reach of the market”, he added.

UPDATE: Hungary presents proposals to develop European electromobility

Hungary has put forward an 11-point package of proposals aimed at speeding up the transition to electric vehicles to the European Union’s Competitiveness Council, the national economy minister said on Wednesday.

Márton Nagy told a press conference that it was necessary to coordinate the measures aimed at boosting electromobility given the diverse strategies in member states.

Detailing the package, Nagy said Hungary’s proposals included the development of charger infrastructure, the easing of regulatory burdens in the interest of improving competitiveness, and prioritising technology-neutral procedures and the circular economy in the green transition. Concerning the charger infrastructure, he said facilities should be built at every 50 kilometres next to roads, while 80 percent of petrol stations should be similarly equipped. He urged that the EU should launch a programme to support development of the public system and provide grants between 900 and 1,500 euros to each household installing their own charger.

Under the Hungarian proposal, European citizens should receive a grant of 4,500 euros each to buy an electric vehicle, the minister said. He added it was important that subsidies should be provided on an individual basis to help people buy or lease second-hand electric cars. He also urged launching a European programme to renew corporate fleets aimed at speeding up replacement of traditional medium-size and heavy vehicles and buses for electric ones.

The package is also aimed at promoting technology-independent procedures for the replacement of batteries as well as mandatory recycling of batteries, Nagy added.

He noted that the proposals put forward at Tuesday’s meeting of the Competitiveness Council urged joint European action and supported European competitiveness as well as the green transition.

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