Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-01-18-Speech-3-182-000"
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"en.20120118.23.3-182-000"2
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Mr President, thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here among you once more, half a year after the end of the Hungarian Presidency. It is always a pleasure to address a parliament, because no matter what an institutional system is like, it is in parliament where democracy is at work, and it is the parliament that is the heart of democracy. I myself share this opinion, and that is why I have been a member of parliament since 1990. Thank you, President Schulz, for providing me the opportunity to be here today. I am grateful to the Danish Presidency, which did not object to, but was in fact in favour of my being here, and I would also like to thank President Barroso for his encouraging words.
I came here to you today because I had been informed that you were intending to discuss Hungary. I thought it appropriate to be at your disposal, so that you may learn firsthand about the intentions of the Hungarian Government. In the present situation, where there is already a tension due to the European economic crisis, the increased attention focused on Hungary justifies my presence.
Let me tell you that I am not surprised at the increased interest shown in Hungary. Our country has undergone a comprehensive, deep, magnificent and exciting reform over the past one and a half years. The reform was justified and urgent. In 2010 our country was on the verge of economic collapse. A country of 10 million people was supported by less than 3 million taxpayers. There were more people living off state funds than from the economy. There were no legal sanctions against the operations of paramilitary organisations. Our country stood at the brink of economic collapse and tragedy. We undertook an enormous amount of work in the past one and a half years, and we are proud of that work. Although we still have to face plenty of serious economic difficulties, for the first time Hungary’s budget can be considered stable and in compliance with European norms. We are in the process of reducing our sovereign debt, and our balance of payments is showing a long-term positive result. We have outlawed and eliminated paramilitary organisations, and as a result Hungary now offers protection to all minorities, including national minorities, the Roma, as well as Jewish minorities, and the Hungarian Government will continue to protect these minorities in the future.
Over a period of one and a half years we have enacted a new constitution, 25 cardinal laws and 339 other laws, which makes a total of 365 laws in one and a half years. We implemented structural reforms and reorganised the governmental system, the system of municipal governments, public administration, the justice system, education, health care, taxation and public contributions, the pension system and the social security system. We reorganised everything that was generating sovereign debt in Hungary. This naturally entailed the injury of interests, namely of lobby interests, business interests and the interests of major power groups in business. You need only think of the bank tax or the Hungarian crisis tax imposed on major corporations.
We were the last of the formerly occupied countries to enact a new constitution in place of the Communist one adopted in 1949. I would like to make it clear to you that the reform and reorganisation of Hungary took place on the basis of European values and principles. We drew upon both the good practices of the EU Member States and the fundamental documents of the European Union. Considering the extent and rate of the transformation I, together with everyone else in Hungary, consider it natural for disputes to emerge.
Today I sent a letter to President Barroso. In that letter I expressed my opinion that the issues raised by the Commission can be remedied in an easy, simple and swift manner. I anticipate quick results from our meeting scheduled for next week. At the same time I would like to inform Parliament that none of the passages which were sent to us by the Commission and with regard to which legal objections have been raised so far concern the Hungarian Constitution. Notwithstanding what newspapers publish, there has not been a single objection to the text of the Hungarian Constitution as adopted on 25 April. We adopted the constitution on 25 April last year. The Commission has raised objections regarding two of the temporary provisions related to the constitution, and I am at their disposal in order to remedy these two deficiencies, but I would like to point out that thus far no one has expressed any doubts of a legal nature in respect of any passage of the Hungarian Constitution. I am convinced that this is as it should be.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am grateful to you for allowing me to explain all this. I ask you to kindly continue to support in the future, in the spirit of European values, the major transformation and restructuring that we are in the process of completing in Hungary. Hungary is counting on the European Parliament’s support. Thank you for your attention."@en1
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