William Penn Life, 2000 (35. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2000-12-01 / 12. szám
HighXHurdles Hungary’s hopes of joining EU hinge on several key sticking points from The Budapest Sun Online No doubt, Hungary is moving at full speed towards membership in the European Union (EU). But, since 1997, when the EU issued its first country report, it has bee; known that areas such as the environment, agriculture, corruption and free movement of labor are obstacles in meeting Brussels' rigorous requirements for the membership. This year, a new hurdle may have been introduced with the EU's strong demands on improvement of the Rotna population's situation. Concerning agriculture, Hungarian farmers face serious problems. Without suiucient financial support or transfer of technology and knowledge, they won't be able to compete with their EU counterparts. The whole sector needs strong assistance before the country opens its doors to free competition. Likewise, since Hungary's current farming practices are inefficient by EU standards, Hungarian products can't be competitive on the continental market. On environmental issues, Hungary has much work to do to curb water pollution, to develop waste management and to control air pollution. The goals are clear but the state must spend much more money than before. It has been estimated that some $8 billion would have to be spent on environmental protection to bring Hungary up to EU levels. That's more than 100 times the $71 million that the EU spent on Hungarian environmental problems from 1990 to 1998 through the Phare program. Additionally, Hungary lacks the institutions and management skills to use the modest EU support programs (such as Phare) dedicated to improving areas such as agriculture and the environment. As for corruption, there are at least two major factors contributing to an unfavorable picture of how Hungary deals with it. First, there is a lack of technical and financial assistance to police and judicial authorities, both of which should be independent from political parties. Second, there is a need for a more transparent public administration. Due to the EU's expectations, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared war against corruption in the civil service when he spoke to members of various EU chambers of commerce and ambassadors at a business lunch on Nov. 7. The government's efforts must be successful because domestic scandals that were in the news in November can negatively affect the credibility of Hungary's leaders not only at home but also in Brussels. The Roma population has been the subject of disputes for several decades. In 1998, the EU ranked this issue among the most important problems Hungary must solve. But, Hungarian citizens are süli doubtful whether the traditionally complicated problem of the Roma can be resolved within the next three to five years. Another minority issue concerns ethnic Hungarians living in huge numbers outside the country's borders. After the EU enlargement, Hungary will have neighbors which will probably not join the Union, meaning that more than four million Hungarians could be left out of the new European Community. With EU membership Hungary must adopt the rules of the Schengen conference which cover border control, visa policies and the like. That will inhibit ethnic Hungarians from crossing the EU's external borders. The Hungarian government is very keen on ensuring the free movement of the ethnic Hungarians and doesn't want to discriminate against them. EU membership is near, but it is still an open question as to what solution would be acceptable to Brussels. Brussels is committed to be ready for EU enlargement by the end of 2002. But is that enough time for Hungary? Some would say that it is not enough for Hungary to just get through the negotiations by then; instead, Hungary should also aim to have all the national parliaments with the EU approve its accession by that date. However, winning such approval from each parliament would take more than one year. That means negotiations with the EU would have to be concluded by the end of 2001. And one year may simply not be enough time to find solutions to all of the EU's concerns. The decision on Hungarian membership will be made in Brussels. All Hungary can do is hope that the European Council in Nice this month adopts decisions allowing Hungary and the other most prepared countries to conclude the negotiations by the end of 2001. [ 8 tlüli* ffWÜtf, December 2000
