‘The state is good if it serves the interests of its citizens and has no external goal for which it uses its citizens to accomplish, in the way that the state did under the Arrow Cross and Communist dictatorships.’ This was the central message of Tibor Navracsics, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Administration and Justice, when he spoke on Friday at the Budapest College of Communication and Business, at the invitation of that institution and the European Federation of Journalists.

The minister said that the state must serve the public good: in other words it must promote such ideals that stand above the individual groups within a given nation and that do not represent party interests. He said that we must strive to ensure that government and governmental policy is good for the whole nation. He added, however, that this does not mean that there is no difference between the Left and the Right, because they may view the important elements of public good in different ways.

Mr. Navracsics thinks that the good state must serve the interests of citizens with the maximum of efficiency, economy and civility. He pointed out that we often measure efficiency in terms of lower costs, but an efficient and economical state cannot simply be judged by its size, but by how rapidly it serves its citizens. Mr. Navracsics summarised the results of reforms in Hungarian public administration so far and emphasised that the public service points and government offices which were introduced across the country last year have had an important role in introducing people to the state’s function as a service provider. He added that it is hoped that by the end of 2013 it will be possible to deal with several hundred types of the administrative tasks at 300 government offices.

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)