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The Prime Minister recalled that after 2011, Hungary was now holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union for the second time. He added that he himself personally oversaw this task for the second time. “I have been a Member of Parliament for 34 years, and so I know that it’s an honour that you hear me here today. To speak as prime minister before the members of any parliament is an honour,” he said.
He recalled that also in 2011, during the first Hungarian presidency, Europe struggled with multiple crises; they were compelled to manage the consequences of the financial crisis, the Arab Spring and the Fukushima disaster all at once. He said at the time they promised a stronger Europe, and they delivered on that promise: they adopted the first European Roma strategy as well as the Danube Strategy. During the Hungarian presidency, they launched an economic policy coordination process under the name The European Semester which was back then indeed what it was called, he added. He said it was during the first Hungarian presidency that the EU last successfully completed an accession process, that of Croatia.
In his view, the first presidency was not easy either, but today the job in hand is much more difficult because the situation of the EU is much graver than it was in 2011 and is perhaps graver than ever before during the history of the EU. Among the current difficulties he mentioned that there is a war under way in Ukraine, that is, in Europe, there are devastating conflicts in the Middle East and Africa with an impact on Europe, and each conflict conveys the threat of escalation.
He also spoke about the fact that since 2015 the migration crisis has grown out of all proportion; illegal migration and the ongoing security challenges convey the threat of causing the Schengen Area to disintegrate. Meanwhile, Europe is losing its global competitiveness, Mr Orbán added, taking the view that the EU is facing decisions which will determine its own fate.
Regarding the organisational and coordination work completed during the Hungarian presidency to date, the Prime Minister highlighted that so far Hungary has held 585 council task force meetings, chaired twenty-four ambassadors’ meetings, organised eight formal and 12 informal council meetings, and held 69 presidency events in Brussels and 92 in Hungary, he listed, adding that the events in Hungary were attended by more than 10,000 guests.
Legislative work in the council “is going ahead at full speed,” they are currently working on 52 legislative dossiers at various levels of the council, he said. He highlighted that the presidency was also ready to start trilogue negotiations with the European Parliament at any time. At present, they are conducting trilogue negotiations with the Parliament on just 2 legislative dossiers, but there are another 41 dossiers on which such negotiations will be required; they are waiting for this to happen.
He observed that after the elections, they witnessed a difficult institutional transition, but four months have now gone by, and the Hungarian presidency is ready to cooperate with the Parliament also on the 41 dossiers awaiting consultation. He said “the Hungarian presidency as an honest broker aims at constructive cooperation with all Member States and institutions; at the same time, the Hungarian presidency will protect the rights of the Council that are based on the Treaties,” including the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament and the European Commission.
Regarding the political responsibility of the Hungarian presidency, he stressed that the European Union had to change, and the Hungarian presidency wished to be the voice and engine of that change. He mentioned the improvement of competitiveness as the most important element of change. He added that the Hungarian presidency sought to highlight problems and to make recommendations, but decisions would have to be made by the Member States and institutions of the EU.
Concerning the problem of competitiveness, he said in the past two decades, the EU’s economic growth has been slower than that of the United States and China, the EU’s productivity, too, is increasing at a slower rate than that of its competitors, and its share in world trade is on the decrease. Businesses in the EU are faced with electricity prices that are two to three times higher and natural gas prices that are four to five times higher than in the United States, he listed. In consequence of having been detached from Russian energy, the European Union has sustained a significant loss of GDP growth, and has in the meantime been compelled to reallocate considerable financial resources to energy subsidies and the construction of the infrastructure necessary for the importation of liquefied natural gas, he said.
The Prime Minister highlighted that one half of European businesses regarded energy costs as the main obstacle to the implementation of investments, while production in energy-intensive sectors had decreased by 10 to 15 per cent. “We should not delude ourselves into believing that the green transition will offer a solution to this problem on its own,” he stated. Even if the targets set for the installation of renewable energy sources are met by 2030, according to all analyses, the percentage of hours during which fossil fuels determine energy prices will still not decrease significantly, he said.
He indicated that the European Green Deal was based on the tenet that we would create new green jobs. However, the very essence of this initiative is called into question if decarbonisation leads to a decline in European production and a loss of jobs, Mr Orbán concluded, pointing out that one of the worst examples of the lack of EU planning is the automotive industry where climate policy is employed without an industrial policy.
The Hungarian Prime Minister recalled that the main reason for the development of the productivity gap between the EU and the United States should be sought in digital technology. Additionally, Europe’s disadvantage appears to be increasing further, given that our businesses spend half as much on research and development as businesses in the United States, Mr Orbán warned.
In continuation, he said these problems are further aggravated by our negative demographic processes; numbers clearly indicate that migration is unable to compensate for the natural decline in the EU’s population. For the first time in the modern-day history of Europe, we are entering an era when a continuous rise in workforce will not support the growth of the GDP, he laid down. Referring to both former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and French President Emmanuel Macron, he pointed out that the situation was grave and required immediate action. We are in the 11th hour, in technologies which are currently regarded as pioneering, the next few years will decide who will be left standing, he stated, adding that it is much more difficult to bring back declining capacities than to retain them.
In this field, Member States expect prompt and firm action on the part of the European institutions. They expect the reduction of administrative burdens, the easing of over-regulation, the availability of affordable energy, a green industrial policy, the strengthening of the internal market, a capital market union, the broadening of trade policy, and a trade policy that enhances connectivity, instead of promoting the development of blocs, he stated.
Among the success stories, he mentioned – also in reference to the Draghi Report – the EU’s dynamically developing battery industry. He recalled that in the past decade public funding used for battery technologies had increased by 18 per cent on average and had played a key role in strengthening Europe’s position. Today, Europe is now in third position – behind Japan and South Korea – in patent applications filed for battery energy storage technologies, he added.
It seems that a targeted and strategic intervention could be successful and advantageous for Europe, he concluded. Mr Orbán said the goal of the Hungarian EU presidency is to adopt a new European competitiveness pact at the informal meeting of the European Council due to be held on 8 November in Budapest. “I’m convinced that a political commitment at the highest level could boost the European competitiveness turnaround which we badly need,” he said, suggesting that this topic should be placed at the centre of the action plan of the institutional term beginning now.
Proceeding to the topic of migration, the Prime Minister said Europe has been affected by the pressure of migration for years, and this imposes an enormous burden on the Member States situated at the external borders of the EU. He pointed out that the EU’s external borders must be protected, this serves the best interests of the whole of the EU, and so the EU must provide meaningful support with these efforts. He said without outside hotspots the European people cannot be protected against illegal migration. “After we let someone in, we will never be able to send them back home. […] There is only one solution: we should only allow those into the territory of the EU who previously received permission from us,” he stressed, describing all other solutions as mere illusions.
He took the view that the EU’s asylum system is not working at present; in Europe, illegal migration has led to the rise of anti-Semitism, acts of violence against women and the intensification of homophobia. Amidst heckling from a section of attending MEPs, Mr Orbán repeated his statement, adding that whether they like it or not, these are the facts. He indicated that as a consequence of the EU’s unsuccessful migration policy, ever more Member States are seeking to opt out of the asylum system, while illegal migration and security fears have led to the long-term and extensive reinstatement of border controls. He stated: it is time to deal with this issue at the highest political level, and to discuss whether the political will necessary for the genuine functioning of the Schengen Area can be restored. Therefore, on behalf of the Hungarian presidency, he proposed the creation of a system for regular “Schengen summits.” Mr Orbán added that the Hungarian presidency further proposed the admission of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen Area as full members before the end of this year. He recalled that the summits of the leaders of the Eurozone – which became institutionalised in an international treaty in 2012 – played an important role in the EU’s response to the 2008 financial crisis. The Prime Minister takes the view that the Schengen Area is today undergoing a similar crisis, and therefore, there would be a need for a similar political commitment and later for the institutionalisation of summits in an international agreement.
He also mentioned that, in addition to migration, Europe was facing a number of other security challenges; the summit of the European political community to be held in Budapest on 7 November, two days after the US presidential election, will be a suitable forum for discussing these. Mr Orbán said today the EU is unable to guarantee its own peace and security, and so we must institutionalise a European security and defence policy. The Hungarian presidency takes the view that the best solution to this lies in the reinforcement of the European defence industry and its technological foundations. He added that the Hungarian presidency focused on a European defence industry strategy and plan, but the challenge is much more diverse than that, given that it concerns both Member State and EU competencies as well as international alliance structures.
The Prime Minister offered Hungary’s example for consideration. He said Hungary is spending 2.5 per cent of its gross domestic product on defence, the vast majority of the country’s defence procurements comes from European defence industry sources, and in Hungary there are ongoing projects in every segment of the defence industry with the involvement of European players. If this was possible in Hungary, it should be possible in the whole of the European Union as well, he stated.
Mr Orbán spoke about the enlargement of the EU as a priority topic; in his view, the EU’s enlargement policy must remain merit-based, balanced and authentic. He said the acceleration of the accession of the Western Balkans is a key issue. He pointed out that without the admission of Serbia, the Balkans could not be stabilised, adding that several member candidate countries are now meeting the technical conditions of moving to the next phase of the process, but there is no political consensus among the Member States. The Hungarian presidency has convened a Western Balkans-EU summit where they would like to make meaningful progress, he laid down.
The Prime Minister urged the establishment of a competitive European agriculture, and said it is essential to reduce the differences in the state of development between regions. He argued that the competitiveness of agriculture had been significantly diminished by extreme climatic conditions, increased costs, imports originating from third countries and excessive regulation, and this posed a threat to the very livelihoods of European farmers. The Hungarian presidency would like to offer the new European Commission guidance with a view to creating a competitive, crisis-proof and farmer-friendly agriculture, he added.
Mr Orbán said cohesion policy is not some charity or donation; it is, in actual fact, the EU’s largest investment policy and a condition for the balanced functioning of the internal market; its survival is key to the EU’s competitiveness.
Concluding his speech, the Prime Minister said the Hungarian presidency seeks solutions to common European problems which are firmly rooted in common sense; it is not just looking for solutions, “we Hungarians continue to search for our dreams in the European Union, a community of free and equal nations, a country of countries, a democracy of democracies.” “We are searching for a God-fearing Europe that protects people’s dignity, a Europe that besieges cultural, scientific and intellectual heights,” he said, adding that Hungary is not a member of the EU because of what it is, but because of what it could be. He stressed that as long as they saw a chance of turning Europe into what it could be, as long as “there is the slightest chance of that,” they would keep on fighting for it.
The Hungarian EU presidency has a vested interest in a successful European Union, and the success of the Hungarian presidency will be the success of the whole of the European Union.” “Let us make Europe great again,” Mr Orbán stated.
