Brussels, 20/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - The Hungarian Presidency of the EU in the first half of 2011 will have the motto “Europe with a human touch”, but the “key priority” will be to “get Europe out of the monetary and economic crisis”, the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Janos Martonyi, announced in Brussels on 20 December, where he was presenting the work programme of this first European Presidency to be held by Hungary (which has been a member since 2004). “It's the economy, stupid”, Martonyi, who will chair the General Affairs Council for the next six months, paraphrased to the press. “Nothing is more important than to cool down the markets and put the crisis behind us”, he said.
The Hungarian Presidency does indeed have a vast amount of work to do on economic matters: implementation of the strategy EUROPE 2020, organisation of the first “European semester” to reinforce budgetary discipline and economic governance in the member states, adoption of the Commission's legislative proposals on economic governance (“the aim is to adopt all six proposals of the Commission by the end of our Presidency”, Martonyi said), and limited revision of the Treaty of Lisbon to allow the creation of a permanent euro zone stability mechanism by mid-2013, when the temporary is due to expire. This revision of the Treaty, which was decided upon at last week's European Council (EUROPE 10280), will be completed under the Hungarian Presidency. “But the economy is more than just statistics and detailed indicators. There is also the human factor, which is extremely important” and which the Hungarian Presidency wishes to stress. For example, by launching debates on the demographic challenges facing Europe (“how can the EU become the most competitive economy in the world when its population is falling”, asked Martonyi), the fight against poverty, social and territorial cohesion (“a vital dimension of the strategy EUROPE 2020”), the integration of the Roma and the role of families (“why not think about a European year of the family in 2014?”). The energy policy will also be one of the economic priorities of the Hungarian Presidency. In February, a special European Council devoted to this topic will be held.
Budget. Thanks to the last-minute agreement between the Council and the European Parliament, the Hungarian Presidency has narrowly avoided the problem of the budget 2011 (even though some technical work remains to be done, as Martonyi pointed out). However, it is planning to prepare the ground for the debate on the forthcoming multi-annual framework 2014-2020, for which the Commission has announced proposals for June 2011. The fact that a number of countries (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands, etc) have already started to draw their lines in the sand by opposing any increase to the Community budget between now and 2020 is not at all to the taste of the forthcoming presidency. “We must not put the cart before the horse. Before we talk money, let us hold a political discussion, let us discuss the substance, let us talk about what we want to do together in terms of cohesion, research and development, energy, the common agricultural policy (CAP), etc. We should discuss all of this before we talk figures”, Martonyi said. Hungary is deeply committed to the CAP, he indicated, pointing out that this policy concerns “not just agriculture and food, but also the environment and our way of life”.
External relations. Externally, the Hungarian Presidency is planning to give a shot in the arm to the Eastern Partnership by holding a summit in Budapest at the end of May, to be attended by the heads of state and government of the 27 and of the six beneficiary countries (Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Belarus). On enlargement, the main objective is to finalise the accession negotiations with Croatia (a neighbour of Hungary). Initially, the objective was to sign the accession treaty in June, “but this is no longer possible” due to the delays in talks, Martonyi explained. “We will try to speed up the process as much as we can”, he said. This also applies to accession negotiations with Turkey, but the minister did not specify an objective in terms of opening or closing chapters. Budapest also wants the European Council to adopt a “Danube region strategy” and reach, “in the coming months”, a decision of the Council on extending the Schengen zone to Bulgaria and Romania.
Ensuring continuity. Generally, the main aim of the Hungarian Presidency is to “ensure continuity” in application of the work programme of the “presidential trio” (Spain, Belgium and Hungary) and to be at the service of Europe to make it “stronger”, Martonyi said. “We are not looking for any prestige. What matters to us is the substance, the work”, he said. (H.B./trans.fl)