Evaluation of Fidesz - Hungarian Civic Union on the EU's Comprehensive Monitoring Report on Hungary

Dátum: 2003-11-20 12:54:00, eredeti URL: http://archiv.fidesz.hu/index.php?Cikk=17517
KCMDB-be feltöltve: 2024-05-04 19:10:13.916313, Feltöltő: fidesz_hu_scraper_v2

Summary:

The European Commission recently published its Comprehensive Monitoring Report evaluating the progress made by the accession countries on the implementation of their commitments. Since it is based on the findings of the last Regular Report in 2002, the Commission's evaluation concerning Hungarian EU-preparedness is an assessment on the job done by the Medgyessy-government in the last 12 months. In view of its findings, Fidesz is of the opinion that this Monitoring Report is indeed a last sobering warning for the government.

Since the last Regular Report, which essentially evaluated the job of the Orbán-government, Hungary has lost its pole position among the accession countries: this time, Hungary has fallen behind Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Estonia. Although the Report notes that Hungary has reached a high level of alignment with the acquis communautaire in most policy areas, four areas of serious concern in the agricultural chapter threaten the perspective of successful accession unless immediate and decisive action is taken. The Monitoring Report also cites about 35 policy areas, where commitments are only partially met in transposing the acquis into Hungarian law, and where enhanced efforts must be made in order to complete preparations for accession.

Fidesz finds it particularly alarming that the clauses of strong critique addressed to Hungary by European Union are all found in areas which will determine whether Hungary will be a net beneficiary or net contributor of the EU's budget. Moreover, the critique could hardly have come as a surprise for the government: Fidesz has been calling attention to them from time to time in the past year.

Background:

The Comprehensive Monitoring Report provided an overview of Hungary's economic and administrative capabilities on the threshold of the European Union.

 Fidesz has regularly warned about the inconsistencies and the drifting nature of the Medgyessy-government's economic policy. The Commission's Monitoring Report underlined these comments by, for the first time in the history of Regular Reports, criticising Hungarian economic policy and labelling next year's projected budget, similarly to what Fidesz has been saying, as an austerity one. The report concluded: Hungary's overall macro-economic equilibrium has deteriorated, in particular as regards the composition of the GDP, external accounts and exchange and interest rate stability. The report also pointed at "inconsistence in monetary and exchange rate policies", indicating Hungary's falling reputation in this area.

 The report evaluates Hungary's administrative and judicial capacity as sufficiently prepared for the implementation of the acquis, but it calls for further improvements in the field of regional development, local self-government, and state administration. The Report emphasises the need for the improvement of transparency in personal matters in the Hungarian civil service, especially concerning recruitment and promotion. (This comment underlines what Fidesz has been saying about large-scale political cleansing in the state administration following the 2002 elections.) Steps are needed to ensure adequate financing of the judiciary, and the fight against corruption. Fidesz calls attention to the fact that the sheer mentioning of the Prosecutor General "having to face in the past months repeated rejections of his answers to Parliamentary interpellations" by the governing parties is a testimony that the European Commission is vigilant on the respect of independent institutions not under the supervision of the government.

Examining the commitments made by the Hungarian government chapter by chapter of the acquis, it is primarily regarding preparations in agriculture and, more precisely, in creating preconditions for receiving community agrarian funds that the report uncovers serious arrears. The Commission considers the situation particularly alarming in four areas, to be dealt with urgency:

 A Paying Agency distributing the community agrarian funds is yet to be urgently established, in particular as regards the development of the IT system, administrative procedures and the recruitment and training of staff. The SAPARD Agency set up by the Fidesz-led government in March 2002 for this purpose has been completely re-organised, which resulted in a disfunctioning structure unable to carry out the disbursement for the beneficiaries.

 The establishment of a fully functional Integrated Administration and Control System (essentially a register of land parcels, farmers and livestock) is still seriously delayed from both an organisational and technical point of view. The most serious concern is the lack of its IT system which is still yet to be developed. Experts say that, even if the government worked on the project with full steam from now on, the IACS would not be in place until summer 2004, and accrediation starts only afterwards.

 The Hungarian government is yet to formally transmit its draft Rural Development Programme to the Commission, and negotiations proceed slowly on this issue. The report concludes that "there are serious concerns about Hungary's preparations for implementing rural development programmes, in particular due to the number of activities that remain to be completed and to the unclear definition of responsibilities and weak coordination." Fidesz doubts if the government have set its priorities adequately prior to the negotiations and in a way to be able to transform its concepts into cash in a short period of time.

 There is a high probability that a significant number of food processing establishments will not be in compliance with the relevant EU requirements on public health protection by next May, which means that products from these establishments may be excluded from the common market after accession. Fidesz warns the government about the gravity of the situation: such potential safety restrictions could be fatal for certain sectors of Hungarian agriculture.

The report concludes that "unless immediate remedial action is taken, Hungary will not be in a position to implement the acquis in these areas by the date of accession". In other words, the hesitation of the government may lead to Hungarian farmers not having access to community payments. The absence of a well-functioning institutional background is aggravated by financial insecurity for Hungarian farmers next year, a fact Fidesz regularly calls attention to. Despite the fact that agriculture in the EU is financed posteriorly, the draft Hungarian budget does not provide for the equivalent of these payments, to be transferred in advance to farmers. Neither does it provide for the supplementary 30-percent national contribution, agreed in Copenhagen last December. Moreover, in spite of the fact that Hungarian famers will only get a quarter of the amount of direct agricultural payments than their colleagues in current member states, the government has made no measures to increase their competitiveness, despite commitments to the contrary.

Among the approximately 35 areas where Hungary has to make considerable and sustained efforts in order to meet earlier commitments, the ones necessary for making effective use of eligibility for the community's structural funds are the most important. (These funds are open for Hungary from 1 January 2004, thus the timeframe is even shorter.) Fidesz is of the opinion that the Monitoring Report is a testimony to the fact that the government has not met its responsibility in this area. This is all the more starking that the government's communication about next year's austerity budget is concentrated on the availability of EU funds in every area where national funding is lacking.

 In particular, the report emphasises that "Hungary must urgently adopt new legislation on public procurement in line with the acquis". This statement underlines what Fidesz has been saying since last spring about the lax legislation schedule of the cabinet: with only few bills introduced in Parliament last year, the government "forgot" to govern. Only recently introduced, the bill on procurement is still in an early phase in Parliament, and there is little chance that it will be approved in time. Fidesz calls attention to the government's huge responsibility here: it is the financing of regional development and infrastructural projects, assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises which is at stake, essential for underdeveloped regions. Without an act on procurement, no applications for structural funds may be submitted in Brussels from January. As parliamentary group leader János Áder pointed out in the debate on the Comprehensive Report in the National Assembly, Fidesz is a partner to all extraordinary procedures related to approving delayed legislation on EU-matters.

 The Monitoring Report also calls attention to the non-automatic nature of these payments and the arrears Hungary must catch up: "Considerable and sustained efforts are needed to establish a pipeline of projects that are ready to be implemented in technical and financial terms so as to enable Hungary to benefit fully from Community funds as soon as the programme starts."

For a long time now, it is not accession itself, but the quality of accession that has been at stake. Having read the Monitoring Report, we may say that the Medgyessy-government has no clear strategy on how to make Hungary a successful entrant in the European Union. Instead of making use of the last critical period prior to accession, the cabinet wasted the time with incoherent and drifting policies. Fidesz hopes that even if its observations are not heard by the government, those of the EU will be. The last months before accession should be those of responsible action.

Budapest, 10 November 2003