There are several points of current EU issues in which Hungary and France are able to work together very well, Minister of State for EU Affairs Enikő Győri said following a two-day visit to Paris on Wednesday.

During her stay, Minister of State Győri met with Advisor to the President on EU affairs Philippe Leglise-Costa and Head of the Senate’s Committee on EU affairs Simon Sutour. Among others, the two parties discussed, the multiannual financial framework (MFF), issues related to long-term economic coordination and the question of the banking union.

Regarding the debate initiated by France in the European Council on the EU’s growth pact, Hungary agrees with the French on the necessity of growth and new jobs beside fiscal consolidation. However, Minister of State Győri added that even though we are committed to the latter, as seen in our decreasing public debt and budget deficit, we would like to decide for ourselves what methods we use to achieve the results.

The Hungarian Minister of State pointed out that France faces similar problems as Hungary, since the country has to decrease its deficit and is suffering from high (11%) unemployment. The Hungarian Government has been tackling these problems for the past two years, trying to eliminate the obstacles to growth through tax policies and structural reforms, she added.

With regard to the European Commission’s proposal on granting the European Central Bank (ECB) supervisory competence within the Eurozone, Minister of State Győri said the Hungarian Government can only make a responsible decision if competition and the Common Market will not be impaired and so Hungary will not be at a disadvantage because it is outside the Eurozone. Additionally, the potential accession of Hungary to the zone could only be considered if rights and obligations are in balance. France, as she pointed out, accepts that the problems of non-eurozone states must also be considered.

Both countries agree that reaching a decision on the 2014-2020 MFF at the EU summit in November would be optimal, which the Hungarian official said would also be necessary because of predictability so at to ensure that Member States have at least a year to prepare through the introduction of their own new, internal regulations and restructuring of their institution system so that the applicants of EU tenders would not experience any problems in the field of payments.

Minister of State Győri confirmed the Hungarian standpoint stating that a 30% decrease in cohesion funding is unacceptable, since it would go against the logic of assisting the less developed. Both Hungary and France agree that the amount suggested for agricultural policies by the European Commission is the minimum, as neither country would want to work with less. To achieve this, she added, a suitably strong Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is needed, provided with the necessary financial instruments.

(Prime Minister’s Office)