Brussels, 24/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has declared that his country will not participate in the “pact for the euro+” because of tax reasons. This announcement was made on Thursday 24 March during a European People's Party summit (EUROPE 10335). Hungary supports competitive tax environments within the EU and with third countries, such as China. It considers that the coordination of fiscal policies in Europe would be an initiative that goes in “the wrong direction”. The acting president of the Council of the EU also pointed out that his country had set out “a flat tax”. Member states supporting the “pact for the Euro +” are committed to establishing convergence between their economic policies in areas of national competency, such as the labour market, pensions and public financing, in an effort to enhance their competitiveness (EUROPE 10335). Non-eurozone countries joining the pact include Bulgaria, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and Sweden support the Hungarian position.
Orbán described the political agreement at the Council on the legislative package to strengthen economic governance in Europe as a real “breakthrough” (EUROPE 10337). On Wednesday, he met the six rapporteurs from the European Parliament involved in this dossier. He also said that the revised Stability and Growth Pact would help member states avoid infringing rules and it would compel them to reduce their debts. The Hungarian prime minister hopes that this dossier will be concluded in June but he has doubts about whether sanctions can be automatic, due to the subsidiarity principle. (M.B./transl.fl)