In an op-ed published in the UK’s Financial Times on Monday 1 July, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán calls for a business-friendly Europe. His country holds the presidency of the Council of the EU for the next 6 months and intends to put the issue of competitiveness at the heart of its work (see EUROPE 13340/30).
“Our aim is to establish a business-friendly environment, ensuring that companies have access to affordable and secure energy and that they can compete with as little red tape as possible”, writes the Hungarian Prime Minister.
In his view, the key to success for businesses lies in free trade and free competition. According to Mr Orbán, trade wars and the numerous European rules are all obstacles to trade and competitiveness.
“The green transition is the best example of this, where the EU has imposed its own ideological objectives without consulting industry sufficiently”, he says.
Priority must now be given to competitiveness checks, impact assessments and business consultation before proposing new rules, added Hungary’s Permanent Representative to the EU, Bálint Ódor, on Tuesday 2 July at an event organised by the European Policy Centre. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)