Brussels, 19/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - Viktor Orbán was in fighting form on Wednesday 19 January in a packed Hemicycle building at the European Parliament, ready to stand his ground over the new Hungarian media law that ensured the presence, as expected, of MEPs from across the board and also dominated the debate (see separate article).
The debate started calmly enough but ended with decidedly frayed tempers. The new acting president of the Council of the EU was, in fact, fulfilling his duty of presenting the work programme for the upcoming six months. The Hungarian prime minister pointed out that the Hungarians were the first to fight Communism. He said they wanted to “serve” the EU in the same spirit as those who fought Communism in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Managing the debt will be the focus of the Hungarian Presidency's programme, along with promoting jobs, economic growth and the coordination of economic policies. The Commission's report on the European semester, hailed by Orbán, has launched a series of discussions at the various Council formations.
The work programme announced by Orbán includes a range of issues, such as boosting the single market; extending the single market to new areas; energy policy, with greater certainty over delivery routes for energy; and social inclusion. If Europe is unable to set up a proper strategy for the Roma, it runs the risk of condemning them to a nomadic lifestyle with negative consequences for all, said Orbán, hoping a decision would be reached in June. A further policy priority is enlargement. Orbán said that some parties are “scared stiff” of enlargement, but the Hungarians want to see the return of optimism and a rapid decision on Croatia. As for enlarging of the Schengen Area to Bulgaria and Romania, he said this raised a greater number of questions but he himself was in favour. On climate change, the Hungarian Presidency will work to ensure that binding decisions are taken at the end of 2012. EU members must deal with all work in the spirit of common objectives and common values, concluded Orbán, pointing out that this was the spirit in which the Hungarian Presidency will be working over the next six months.
The Hungarian Presidency is starting work at a key moment in the European project but José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, said he was sure it would succeed, encouraged by the comments made by Hungarians themselves, including young Hungarians he met in Budapest recently. Barroso mentioned two events during the Presidency - the 4 February European Council to discuss energy, and the 5th Cohesion Forum at the end of January, to be attended by the Hungarian prime minster himself.
Viktor Orbán was given a warm welcome by the EPP, through the mouthpiece of Joseph Daul of France. He said that the Hungarian Presidency would know how to deal with the different challenges over the next six months and the reforms undertaken by the Hungarian government under Viktor Orbán strengthened this view. Daul said that stability of the single currency was the top priority and it was no bad thing that the next two presidencies (Hungarian and Polish) are of countries not yet in the euro but hoping to join. Other work is connected with this priority, like seeking greater flexibility on the labour market, increasing productivity, genuine European economic governance, and discussing the rise in food commodity prices, particularly the impact of this on the poorest countries.
The food price hikes are also a concern to Martin Schulz of Germany, chair of the S&D Group. Addressing Orbán, he said that when you talk about jobs, you are a true member of the EPP and act like President Sarkozy, making a leftist speech but acting like a man of the right. Schulz urged him to put his money where his mouth was, pointing out that he might have a wide majority at home, but that a two-thirds majority also brought responsibility, particularly responsibility to act to strengthen the EU.
My group supports the priorities of the Hungarian Presidency, said Belgium's Guy Verhofstadt (chair of the ALDE Group) in the sense of introducing genuine economic governance and the emergence of fiscal and economic union in Europe. This is not about waving new ideas around, said Verhofstadt, but rather of taking the Commission's package and defending it against the other members of the Council. What about eurobonds? Verhofstadt said he was sure that a eurobond market, with special treatment for AAA markets, was now a necessity. The EU is still too much of a “Western unity” commented Germany's Lothar Bisky on behalf of the GUE/NGL, noting that the holding of the presidency of the Council by a country of the East provides a new angle, which he warmly welcomed. The two tasks of the Hungarian Presidency are to reduce the debt and get over the financial crisis, said Germany's Werner Langen (EPP), believing that Viktor Orbán was well-placed to do so. Agreeing on speedy agreement about Croatia, France's Jean-Pierre Audy (EPP) called for an awareness-raising campaign to reassure European public opinion. Orbán said he was sure that in time, eurobonds would become unavoidable but should not be used as an excuse for avoiding reform. (L.G./transl.fl)