The official position of Fidesz - Hungarian Civic Party on the projected EU-related amendments of the Hungarian Constitution

Dátum: 2002-11-07 15:51:00, eredeti URL: http://archiv.fidesz.hu/index.php?Cikk=5601
KCMDB-be feltöltve: 2024-05-04 17:53:18.302307, Feltöltő: fidesz_hu_scraper_v2

Hungary's approaching EU-accession requires significant amendments in the Constitution with regard to, among others, the delegation of certain parts of Hungarian sovreignty to Brussels and modifying the mandate of the government in negotiating with the European Union following the enlargement. Draft amendments requiring two-thirds majority in Parliament, especially those related to constitutional amendments, have so far been customarily and informally discussed with the parliamentary parties, prior to the piece of legislation being introduced officially in the National Assembly.

However, the government failed to attach the text of the draft constitutional amendment to the invitations sent to the parliamentary parties late in the afternoon on 11 October (Friday) for the four-party negotiations the next Monday. As a constitutional amendment, especially on an issue as crucial as the European Union, is not to be discussed in such circumstances, Fidesz and MDF declined to participate at the phony negotiations. The socialists wanted to take advantage of the issue a few days before the municipal elections and charged Fidesz with having betrayed the cause of EU-accession. László Kovács had even hinted at the possibility of early elections, "should Fidesz want to torpedo Hungary's accession".

It goes without further proof that Fidesz has been an enthusiastic advocate of Hungary's EU-membership since its foundation in 1988, when some prominent members of the current socialist party still thought otherwise. As the opposition could only have access to the draft a few hours before the projected negotiations, it was obviously impossible to be prepared in earnest. It was therefore by far not euroscepticism, but the arrogant procedure of the cabinet, which made Fidesz and MDF stay away from the 14 October round of negotiations.

The government and the socialist party made it clear weeks ago that they want the referendum on accession to come ahead of the actual signature (initialling) of the Accession Treaty. Contrary to this position, Fidesz expressed its opinion that the referendum cannot precede the initialling of the Treaty. During the last round of enlargement, all four applicant countries (Austria, Finland, Norway and Sweden) held their referenda following the signature and there is no reason to deviate from this sequence. According to the desired scenario, therefore, the initialling of the Treaty would be followed by the amendment of the Constitution, which in turn would be followed by the referendum, a condition to the ratification by Parliament and enactment by the President.

At the next four-party negotations on 24 October, the positions of the government and the opposition seemed to converge on some of the debated questions. The Alliance of Free Democrats had come to share the opinion of the opposition parties in saying that the referendum should be held after the initialling of the Accession Treaty. Earlier speculations by Foreign Minister László Kovács, warning that the initialling of the Accession Treaty may be threatened if the Parliament does not approve the amendment of the Constitution within a short timeframe, have also proven to be unfounded. Minister of Justice Péter Bárándy confirmed that there was no obstacle in the way of implementing the accession procedure in the initialling-amendment-referendum-ratification scheme, as proposed by the opposition.

Despite the encouraging tendencies of the previous talks, the forthcoming round of negotiations on 30 October did not result in an agreement. The following areas may be identified where the positions of the government and the opposition still need to be reconciled:

- Unfortunately, the government has returned to its earlier position by insisting that the referendum take place prior to the initialling of the Accession Treaty. As modifications in the text of the Treaty may not be ruled out in the drafting period between the conclusion of the negotiations in December and the initialling of the Treaty in April, Fidesz continues to argue that Hungarian citizens may only be consulted on the matter following the text had been finalised (initialled) by the European Union and the Hungarian Government.

- In the original draft introduced by the government, the date of the referedum and the question to be placed on the referendum ballot papers would have been regulated in the Constitution itself. A referendum being a one-time motion absolutely unfit to be regulated on constitutional level, Fidesz considered the idea contrary to basic legal techniques. The government responded by proposing that the National Assembly decide on the matter in an act requiring simple majority. As the latter solution would ignore the opposition, Fidesz is of the opinion that the date and the question of the referendum should be regulated by an act requiring a two-third majority.

- The government has proposed a clause in the amendment which could be interpreted in expressing that European Law takes precedence over the Hungarian Constitution. Fidesz argues that such a clause might entail consequences that are difficult to foresee and proposes a clause which would unequivocally stipulate that the acquis is a part of national law.

- During the previous round of negotations, agreement has been reached that the amendment must also cover the sharing of responsibilities between the Government and the National Assembly in negotiating with the European Union following the accession. This is an issue of great importance and spanning election cycles, as parliamentary control over Hungary's position on various integration issues must remain solid, regardless of which parties are governing the country. However, the draft text prepared by the government limits the authority of the National Assembly in regulating integration issues to concrete areas stipulated by the Constitution as being obligatorily governed by law. Under this scheme, the government would get a negotiating mandate without parliamentary control in all the areas governed by law, but not listed in the Constitution. Fidesz is of the opinion that the National Assembly should be allowed to mandate negotiating authority to the government in all areas governed by law, regardless of whether they are enumerated in the Constitution, or not.

- Shortly after the 30 October round of negotiations, newspaper articles presumed Fidesz saying that, instead of the prime minister, the President of the Republic should be authorised to sign the Accession Treaty. Although Fidesz did indeed raise the possibility of including the president, a symbol of national unity, at some point in the process of Hungary's EU-accession, a formal motion will not be made until the exact schedule of the accession process becomes clear. However, Fidesz does not consider this issue a question of primary concern.

The above listed differences indicate that the informal four-party negotiations have not yet reached the phase of conceptual consent on an agreed text. In spite of this, the government has decided to submit a draft text, most probably lacking the support of the opposition, to the National Assembly for committee deliberations on 5 November and to plenary debate on 12 November.

Budapest, 5 November 2002