In a wild and potentially hopeful turn of events, the Hungarians are poised to take over the presidency of the Council of the European Union, from which they could potentially push the EU back toward sanity and away from the migrant-friendly, anti-capitalism, pro-overregulation attitude it has so far adopted. They are vowing to “Make Europe Great Again” with the presidency position.
As background, the presidency of the Council of the European Union rotates amongst member states, allowing smaller, peripheral states like Hungary to occasionally exert some amount of power on the body, though rarely enough to make much of a difference. Hungary will take over the presidency on July 1st and hold it until the end of the year.
The Hungarians announced a seven-point policy program, made their slogan “Make Europe Great Again!” and pledged, in the introduction to their program, “Hungary will work as an honest broker, in the spirit of sincere cooperation between member states and institutions, for the peace, security and prosperity of a truly strong Europe.”
The first point of the program is economic in nature, with a goal of increasing Europe’s economic competitiveness. Announcing that part of the program, they said, in part, “[T]he Hungarian presidency will place a strong emphasis on improving European competitiveness, integrating this objective into all policies, by applying a holistic approach. Our aim is to contribute to the development of a technology-neutral industrial strategy, a framework for boosting European productivity, an open economy and international economic cooperation, as well as a flexible labour market that creates secure jobs and offers rising wages in Europe, which is a crucial factor to growth and competitiveness.”
The second part of the program is military in nature, noting that “the European Union must play a greater role in guaranteeing its own security by strengthening its resilience and capacity to act.” To effect that aim, the Hungarians “will place particular emphasis on strengthening the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base, including defence innovation and the enhancement of defence procurement cooperation between member states, beyond the implementation of the Strategic Compass that defines the main directions of EU defence policy.”
The third point focused on the EU itself, with a goal of only expanding it to countries that are deserving. Describing that merit-focused plank, the Hungarians said, “Enlargement is one of the most successful policies of the European Union. To preserve this favourable tendency, it is essential to keep enlargement policy merit-based, balanced and credible.”
The fourth point is perhaps the most important, at least in the short-term. It vows to tackle the migration crisis that has swamped Europe, providing, “The migratory pressure that Europe has been facing for several years is not only a challenge to the Union as a whole but also places a huge burden on individual member states, especially those at the external borders of the Union. It has been a long-term objective of the EU to tackle this, which requires effective, even short-term instruments.”
Relatedly, watch Hungarian PM Viktor Orban discuss the migration issue here:
The fifth point is about “cohesion,” and the sixth is the highly important issue of preserving farmers in the EU. Describing what the issue is with farming and what must be done, the policy platform provides, “European agriculture may have never faced as many challenges as it does today. Extraordinary weather conditions caused by climate change, growing input costs, increasing imports from third countries, and overly stringent production rules have significantly decreased the competitiveness of the sector. The accumulation of these challenges led to a situation where the livelihood of European farmers is threatened. It is essential to view agriculture not as a cause of climate change, but as part of the solution, by engaging farmers in adopting more sustainable production practices.”
The seventh is perhaps the most important long-term issue with the EU, one Hungary is desperately trying to address in its own borders with policies like no income taxes levied on women with four or more children. That issue is demographics, as most in Europe are not having enough children to even hold the population stable, much less grow it.
Describing what the issue is and what it aims to do to try to start fixing it, the Hungarian policy program provides, “The accelerating ageing of European societies, unsustainable social welfare systems, and labour shortages are long-standing and intensifying problems in all of Europe that need to be addressed urgently and effectively. Ageing society, green and digital transition, rural depopulation, increasing pressure on fiscal resources, and the changing world of work generate such demographic issues and challenges which need to be put into the spotlight.”
Featured image credit: By European People’s Party – EPP Summit, Brussels, December 2018, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79779005
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