Hungary’s tricky EU presidency

Hungary has as-sumed the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union amid some concern within the bloc over a new media law introduced by the centre-right government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Orban has defended the new law, which he says is based on European norms and is aimed at preventing the spread of anti-Semitism and hate speech, but critics of the measure says it gives a new government agency sweeping powers to muzzle the press.

For example, of some concern to European officials is the fact that the new legislation contains vague wording such as “the media has obligations to uphold principles” such as “human dignity” and should “respect the constitutional order”.

The apprehension is understandable, but hopefully the matter will be resolved and will not overshadow Budapest’s EU presidency. Europe can ill-afford such a distraction at this crucial time for the bloc.

Although the rotating presidency has declined in importance since a permanent EU president (Herman Van Rompuy) was put in place a year ago (thanks to the Lisbon Treaty), Hungary will still have a key say in what the EU’s priorities will be in the first six months of the year.

Hungary’s presidency will also be highly symbolic as it will be followed in July by Poland, marking the first time two former Communist countries occupy this position for a whole year. Considering both countries have first-hand experience of Soviet Communist domination, and are both led by centre-right governments, it will be interesting to see how EU-Russia ties develop during 2011.

Hungary has said a “strong Europe with a human touch” will be the motto of its presidency and the main areas it will focus on include the economy, EU enlargement, the strengthening of the Eastern dimension of the bloc’s Neighbourhood Policy, energy and farm reform.

Economic matters are certainly bound to the Hungarian presidency’s top priority, including the monitoring of the situation in the eurozone – even though Hungary has not yet adopted the single currency, implementation of the so-called Europe 2020 strategy (the EU’s growth strategy for the decade), the strengthening of economic governance, as well as opening talks on the EU’s post-2013 Budget, which is of particular importance to Malta because of the funds that we will be eligible to receive.

Budapest has also pledged to help steer Croatia’s EU accession talks to a successful conclusion during its six-month presidency and to support Bulgaria and Romania to join the passport-free Schengen zone.

“Hungary wishes to pay particular attention to taking the enlargement process further and to providing an integration perspective for the Western Balkans region,” according to a statement on the Hungarian EU presidency website.

“It is also a priority objective to strengthen the Eastern dimension of the neighbourhood policy, in the framework of which, Hungary will host the second Eastern Partnership Summit in May 2011,” the statement adds.

The Eastern Partnership, launched in Prague during the Czech EU presidency in the second half of 2009, aims to develop a specific Eastern dimension to the EU’s Neighbourhood Policy and concerns relations with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Despite some achievements in mutual co-operation between the EU and these six countries, the Eastern Partnership was not given particular importance in 2010 under the Spanish and Belgian presidencies, and both Hungary and Poland want to bring it back to the top of the EU agenda.

We can therefore expect the EU to undergo a sharp shift to the East in its outlook during 2011, which some observers are already calling “The Year of the Eastern Partnership”. Hungary is also likely to push for the launch of talks between Serbia and Kosovo during its presidency.

The Hungarian EU presidency also intends to focus on the struggle against child poverty and will strive for European-level measures to bring about the integration of the Roma people – many of whom lead a marginalised life in a number of EU member states.

The review of the Common Agriculture Policy, the definition of a common energy policy and the drafting of a European water policy – the latter two are of particular importance to Malta – will all feature during the Hungarian presidency.

The review of the EU’s Common Agriculture Policy will no doubt prove to be a very difficult task, especially since France has so much at stake should radical changes be brought about.

Hungary also intends to further the implementation of the Stockholm Programme, which sets out priority actions for the next five years and beyond in the area of freedom, security and justice, and plans to finalise the Danube Strategy, which highlights the economic and ecological potential of Europe’s most important waterway.

I hope that during the Hungarian presidency – and indeed during the subsequent Polish one – the EU will become more aware of and sympathetic to the plight of Christians in a number of Muslim countries such as Egypt, Iraq and the Holy Land.

Foreign Minister Tonio Borg has said he will bring up the recent bombings against Coptic Christians in Egypt at the next EU foreign ministers’ meeting and he deserves credit for this.

If this issue is also taken up by the EU presidency, however, it would highlight the problem further.