The negative reference to the judiciary’s independence was removed from the country-specific recommendations of the European Union for Hungary and was replaced by a more general statement on strengthening the judiciary, therefore Hungary will not be forced to exercise its right of veto – said MFA Minister of State Enikő Győri at a press meeting in Budapest on 26 June.

The Hungarian Minister of State responsible for EU Affairs said that the need to strengthen the judiciary was mentioned in the case of several EU Member States.

“This is a text that we can live with, which shows that it is worth struggling and that if negative elements surface that are without justification, then the Commission is willing to consider the facts.” – she said.

Foreign Minister János Martonyi told Hungarian journalists on 25 June that the statement alluding to concerns about the Hungarian judiciary will not be included in the final version of the so-called country-specific recommendations formulated for Hungary at the end of the European semester. The Minister, who attended the meeting of EU Ministers of European affairs in Luxembourg, revealed that according to the original text Hungary “had to address the concerns about the independence of the judiciary”. Instead – the Minister said – the text will include a general statement, according to which Hungary has to strengthen the judiciary, a position that the Commission has articulated for at least ten other countries.

Enikő Győri revealed that the objective of the criticised measures was to allow a transfer of court cases, and thus ensure a more balanced distribution of workload across the court system. (On Wednesday the National Assembly removed the provisions allowing the transfer of cases from the Acts on the Judiciary and on Criminal Procedures, as well as from the Code of Civil Procedure.) The Minister of State revealed that draft legislation has already been submitted to the National Assembly, which would appropriate another HUF 6 billion to reinforce the courts, enabling the Government to achieve its original objectives – she added.

Enikő Győri reminded the press that Hungary had already asked for political statements to be attached at the meetings of the Employment and Social Policy Council and Economic and Financial Affairs Council in which it objected to other recommendations. The contested recommendations called for a reduced dominance of the public works scheme in employment policy and stipulated recommendations concerning the structure of the corporate tax system, regulatory price setting and statements on the Hungarian business environment.

She explained that this was not unique and that beside Hungary, Belgium and Luxembourg had also attached such statements last year. Member States usually resort to this tool if they do not wish to obstruct a process, but are of a different opinion, she said, adding that “we would have used our veto if the sentence on the independence of the judiciary remained in the text, but we never got to that point, since we managed to resolve the problem through constructive dialogue”.

The Minister of State explained that growth and employment, with a special emphasis on youth unemployment, figured more prominently than ever on the agenda of the two-day summit beginning on Thursday. The EU Summit will also discuss the EUR6bn budget that will be invested into reducing youth unemployment during the next multiannual framework.

According to Enikő Győri, four Hungarian regions – Southern Transdanubia, Northern Hungary, the Southern Plains and Northern Plains regions – were eligible for support based on the criteria and a total of EUR 48 million in funding may be given to these regions.

The Heads of State and Government will also discuss issues related to enlargement and the interim report on the banking union – said the Minister of State.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)