Speeches: Péter Balázs, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hungary

7th IRU East-West Road Transport Conference Budapest, 15-16 May 2003 Budapest Congress Centre (BCC), Alkotas u. 63-67 - 1123 Budapest, Hungary

Péter Balázs
Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hungary

Questions for Mr Balázs Péter

1. Your country is now towards the end of a process, which started more than a decade ago. In several months Hungary will become a member of the EU and, arguably, it will be among the best prepared to join the EU. Would it be possible for you to explain what does it mean “to be prepared‿ to join the EU, e.g. in terms of the amount of work done at the level of society, the economy and at the level of the political establishment?

There is a formal part of the preparation for our accession to the European Union: this is what the accession talks are about. The EU checks the country’s legal and institutional suitability, all the necessary data will be recorded this summer, while a last qualification report will also be prepared during the autumn of 2003. However, being prepared means a lot more than that. In fact, it raises the questions of whether we shall be able to take advantage of the new opportunities, whether we can successfully adapt to a more difficult, competitive environment, which we have been trying to do for some 10 years already; whether we shall be able to make good use of the huge region opening up in front of us, whether we identify all the chances available. For the government, being prepared for joining the EU means that we must get involved in the day-to-day process of reconciliation of interests; we shall have to challenge the other Member States every week to safeguard the interests of Hungary, which, although it is going to be a tough fight, will lead to a common goal. Therefore, amicable means are to be used.

2. Could you please name the most important benefit as well as the greatest challenge of enlargement for your country and for the whole of Europe?

In general terms, the process of accession to the European Union means that the Union’s rules, as well as the region of stability and security will be extended – a grand prize for Europe.

Now, what will Hungary gain from the accession? To highlight the key facts only, I should mention first our direct involvement in the decision-making processes, instead of having to adapt to decisions made beyond our control. We shall be actively involved in the process, sitting at the table of the decision-makers themselves. The second major advantage is the opening up of an enormous region, which will provide vast opportunities both for individuals, and for entrepreneurs. A third key factor will be the flow of funds from Western Europe to Hungary, which will represent a significant amount (EUR 5 billion), available for allocation during the first three years, the use of which will be carried forward several further years. The greatest challenge for us is whether we will be able to take advantage of this bright opportunity.

3. What next? How do you see the place of Hungary in the EU and what are the chances of your economic operators, e.g. in the road transport sector, to compete successfully on the enlarged EU Internal Market?

In general, I find Hungary’s chances to be good, simply because Hungary has always been a “pioneer‿ of the accession process. The Hungarian economy has such a significant history of reforms, the effective change of the political/economic system had started so much earlier, that we shall obviously enjoy the resulting advantages.

As far as road carriers are concerned, the first step will necessarily be a process of getting acquainted with and understanding the relevant EU rules and regulations, as well as an adaptation to those rules and regulations. A further challenge for them will be how to get involved in the competition process.

I have no doubts about the success of the Hungarian road hauliers in both cases, as they have already responded to the changing situations appropriately so far, so why should they not do the same now, when we are entering a secure and predictable environment.

4. Hungary is also an important transit country and this role is bound the to re-confirmed in the future, also in a wider pan-European context. The IRU itself is advocating freedom of transit, which should not be subject to restrictive quotas or prohibitive transit taxation. Are there pluses and/or minuses of being at the crossroad of the political and trade flows and how do you see the role and place of Hungary in this respect?

As a result of the accession, Hungary will find itself in a very specific geographical position. It will constitute the South-East corner of the European Union, the only country which will offer an exit to two neighbouring regions: the first one being the Balkans, leading towards Turkey and the Middle East, the other one being the CIS countries through Ukraine, leading again to a vast area.

We shall have to take advantage of this position, as these regions an enormous flow of goods will pass to and through these regions. We shall guard and control one part of the external borders of the EU, we shall collect the relevant customs duties and check consignments. This will bring us some advantages, as one fourth of the customs duties collected will remain in the country whose institutions have collected them. At the same time, we shall also face difficulties, as our situation will be completely different from that of the Czech Republic, for example, which will be inside the extended territory of the European Union. Our position will be more challenging, offering lessons to learn, but, at the same time, amore interesting and profitable one.

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