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The European Commission was represented by Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport. The meeting focused on most current challenges that education systems have to face. Education and training shall equip students with the knowledge and skills needed in the labour market but they also should ensure the acquirement of fundamental democratic and civic values. These are prerequisites for Europe’s social and economic development. For successful adaptation to labour market needs and continuous change it is inevitable not only to possess the theoretical knowledge and professional skills needed in a profession but also to build on a high level of basic skills (literacy, mathematics, basic scientific skills) and to master the necessary transversal skills, like problem solving, risk taking, cooperation, entrepreneurship.

The Council adopted a resolution on promoting socio-economic development and inclusiveness in the EU through education, as the contribution of education and training to the European Semester 2016. The document points out that there is a need for the targeted improvement of education and training systems in order to improve learning outcomes. Skills mismatches and skills gaps between educational outcomes and labour market needs need to be tackled. Students have to be prepared to adapt to continuous changes in the labour market and to further develop their knowledge, skills and competences when necessary. At the same time, it should be ensured that high quality education is accessible for all.

The Education Council discussed what main elements should be included in the New Skills Agenda that is currently under preparation by the European Commission. In this part of the meeting also Marianne Thyssen, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility participated. Research shows that 40% of EU citizens have only low level or no digital skills, yet these are essential to fully take part in today’s society and labour market. At the same time, 74 % of education providers believe graduates are prepared for work, but only 35% of employers agree with this statement. Strengthening the links between education and training and the labour market, - among others through dual vocational education and training and dual higher education - is a priority also in Hungary. Taking into consideration the rapid technological development and continuously changing economic and labour market conditions the increasing role of further learning and continuous, on the job training must be acknowledged.

Finally, education ministers also discussed the issue of promoting citizenship and fundamental values through education as a follow-up to the Paris Declaration on promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education that was adopted at the informal meeting of the EU education ministers and Commissioner Navracsics unanimously in Paris in March 2015. The discussion focused on citizenship education, the role of teachers and teacher training and media literacy with the aim of exchanging views and good practices among Members States. The introduction of service learning in secondary education that is a prerequisite of the school leaving examination from 2016 was presented as a good practice on behalf of Hungary.

Prior to this, ministers had already met in Amsterdam at the end of January, in an informal format. First, under the agenda item “competitiveness check-up” – which has become a permanent exercise since last year – ministers had an exchange of views on the SMEs potential to scaling up and creating new jobs in the EU. Besides bringing up examples from national practices, delegations mentioned several key areas where EU policies could make a difference, such as facilitating access to finance, stimulating cross-border activities and creating a future-proof regulatory environment.

The Council also discussed the Council Conclusions on the Single Market Strategy for services and goods. The conclusions focus on three substantive priorities of the Strategy, namely 1) SMEs, start-ups, scale-ups and innovative businesses; 2) services and 3) implementation, compliance and enforcement. The debate concentrated on the concept of the Services Passport which would consist of a harmonised notification form and an electronic document repository to make it easier for businesses to provide services in other Member States. Following a long debate on the Services Passport, the Council adopted the Conclusion with an amendment under which the Services Passport could also address regulatory barriers where appropriate.

As a follow-up to the extraordinary Council meeting on 9 November 2015 addressing the challenges faced by the European steel industry, the Council took stoke of the measures taken since then and of the outcome of the Conference on Energy-Intensive Industries on February 2016. Delegations acknowledged the Commission’s efforts, at the same time urged that further measures should be taken without delay, such as modernising trade defence instruments, speeding up anti-dumping procedures, reducing regulatory and ETS-related cost. The Presidency published its account of this agenda item on the same day, in the form of Presidency Conclusions.

During the working lunch, ministers had an informal exchange of views on the implementation of country-specific recommendations aiming to tackle barriers to growth and investment in the services sector. In the course of the debate, ministers shared their national experience with the implementation of country-specific recommendations and heard about challenges and obstacles which have been encountered, but also about good practices and successful cases of reforms carried out by implementing the recommendations.

At the end, ministers had an exchange of view on the circular economy action plan, published by the Commission on 2 December 2015. The Environment Council will also hold a debate on the action plan later this week; the outcome of both debates will feed into the preparations of Council conclusions that are planned to be submitted to the Environmental Council in June. With this in view ministers outlined their priorities and main messages concerning the action plan to the Environmental Council. Besides taking note of the many opportunities arising from the circular economy, members also draw attention to the possible difficulties business, especially SMEs, could face during the changeover phase; therefore, policies should be designed in a way that no extra burden is put on companies.

The European Commission adopted its communication on 2 March on assessing the implications of the Paris Agreement and the next steps by the EU, which was presented by Miguel Arias Cañete, Commissioner for climate action and energy. Ministers welcomed in general the Communication and the reading of the Paris Agreement by the Dutch Presidency. Ministers stressed the importance of implementation of the Paris Agreement and of the legislative procedure in relation to the 2030 climate and energy framework. Commission and Member States are of the opinion that high level participation is desirable at the signing ceremony in New York on 22 April. During the working lunch Ministers continued discussion on the ratification of the Paris Agreement, especially its timing. Many Member States called for quick ratification which would help maintaining the political momentum gained at the Paris climate conference.

The Communication from the Commission can be read here.

In connection with an Action Plan on the Circular Economy, ministers highlighted the improvements of product design, the promotion of sustainable consumption patterns, the development of waste management, ensuring the quality and competitiveness of secondary raw materials as priorities, with a need for monitoring and coordination of the different measures envisaged.

The head of the Hungarian delegation  Mr Zsolt V. Németh, Minister of State for Environmental Affairs, Agricultural Development and Certified ’Hungaricum’ Treasures signalled the Hungary, fundamentally supports the objectives set out in the Commission Communication. There is need to strive for a life-cycle approach in order to preserve the value of products, material and resources as long as possible and to minimize waste generation. He stressed that all measures and objectives of the proposed Action Plan should be based on a proper impact assessment taking into account Member States current socio-economic situation and waste management potential. It is important that the objectives and the time frame for implementation we will agree on are feasible.

With regard to the European Semester / Annual Growth Survey 2016 and the contribution of the environment and climate to growth and jobs, Member States’ interventions focused mainly the integration of the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. It was noted that these aspects should be reflected within the Annual Growth Surveys and the National Reform Programmes, contributing to the improvement of competitiveness and the creation of new jobs, as well as to setting up a post-2020 mechanism that would also aim to implement the goals of the Paris Agreement and of better governance.

The European Commission briefed the ministers also on the further legislative proposals on real driving emissions test procedure.

The Commission presented the Minamata package on mercury, the aim of which is to create consistency between EU law and the provisions of the Convention, allowing the ratification of the Convention.

The Council adopted a statement calling on the Commission to determine the endocrine disrupting substances on the basis of the criteria according to previous obligations.

The European Commission presented the Communication on the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking and provided information on the "Innovation agreements", which aim to address regulatory obstacles perceived by stakeholders in order to foster innovation.

According to the Directive, competent authorities must not present suspects or accused persons as guilty until a court of law passes a definitive sentence in this direction. This will apply both to the way authorities communicate information on suspects, and to the way they treat suspects in court or in public. The Directive is aimed at consolidating Member States’ trust in the other Member States’ criminal justice systems. The mutual recognition of decisions is thus facilitated.

The deadline for transposition into national law is 1 April 2018.

“We have avoided the greatest danger”, the Prime Minister said, above all with reference to the fact that the agreement states that refugees can only be taken in on a voluntary basis. He added that every provision in the agreement which is concerned with the system for relocating refugees specifically and emphatically states that participation in the scheme is voluntary. With this, Hungry has achieved its goals, the Prime Minister confirmed.

He stated that the greatest achievement of the past six months has been the policy decision –made before the agreement reached with Turkey – to reinstate national border controls on the Western Balkans migration route.

Mr. Orbán added that Friday’s EU-Turkish agreement was necessary because, by enforcing controls on the Western Balkans route, the flow of migrants has been successfully stopped  at the Greek-Macedonian and Greek-Bulgarian borders, and as a result the situation in Greece has further deteriorated. The Prime Minister said that this tendency must be halted at all costs, and if there is no unity within the EU we may even lose Greece as a stable EU Member State.

Mr. Orbán reiterated that from the very beginning Hungary, together with the Visegrád countries, has been strongly opposed to the compulsory resettlement of refugees. At present, however, the key country is Macedonia, which must be given all the help it needs to maintain its border protection capability.

The Prime Minister also referred to the Hungarian diplomatic goal that Ukraine should be granted visa exemption before Turkey, and this was agreed in Brussels on a preliminary basis. He said that progress has been made on the issue of visa-free travel for Ukrainians, which for Hungary is a question of friendship, politics and morality. Hungary takes the view that the Ukrainian people need help, and authorising visa-free travel to the EU is the greatest help they can get.

He further stressed that, as part of the agreement and the funding to be provided for Turkey, Hungary will not assume any financial liability that would impose unbearable burdens on the country. Mr. Orbán said that according to the agreement, over and above the three billion euros already offered by the EU towards providing for Syrian refugees in the territory of Turkey, the leaders of the Member States have agreed that any additional EU funding may only be provided after the currently approved sum has been used.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister)

The aim of the regulation is to improve the access of employees to services supporting labour mobility in the EU, to facilitate fair mobility and to facilitate employees’ access to employment opportunities in the European Union. The free movement of workers is one of the four fundamental freedoms of the EU, and also a major component of the European citizenship.

For more than twenty years, EURES has helped people find jobs in another Member State, thereby reaping the benefits our internal market has to offer. The new regulation will build on this experience and bring further improvements: the network will be open to more partners, such as private employment services, and more jobs will be advertised on its job portal. In addition, the regulation aims at a better online matching between candidates and vacancies. Thanks to these novelties, EURES will adequately address the challenges related to skills mismatches on our labour markets and thus contribute to the fight against unemployment in the EU.

In its opening speech, Tibor Stelbaczky deputy permanent representative highlighted that without addressing health determinants health policy is not more than sick policy and it is an important challenge for Europe that it has a healthier population. The Hungarian Government has introduced a series of measure tackling unhealthy food and promoting healthy nutrition at the level of specific foodstuffs and institutions providing public catering. Setting compulsory TFA limit in foodstuffs was introduced in 2014, and Hungary wishes to advocate for similar EU legislation as this option also has been recognized in the report of the European Commission.

György Hölvényi MEP co supporter of the event confirmed that the most effective tool for decreasing disease burden resulting from TFA intake is setting maximum TFA content limits. Experiences gained in Denmark provide clear justification for this policy option. Mandatory labelling and voluntary undertakings from industry will never be effective enough to achieve the desired public health results.

Alojz Peterle MEP declared that the negative impact of artificial trans fats on heart health is beyond dispute, no beneficial health effect has been identified and regulatory TFA limit is necessary. In recent years, the EP have intensified actions, as several workshops and panel discussions focussed on this issue. TFA reduction is a challenge that cannot be solved by politicians alone and the food industry, the caterers, restaurants, canteens, supermarkets and other food suppliers are the key players.

Roberto Bertollini EU Representative of the World Health Organization pointed out that there is overwhelming evidence on the adverse effect of food high in TFA content. Although the industry has voluntarily reduced transfat ratio in foodstuffs, there are groups of the society, in particularly the poor people, who are still highly exposed to health risks resulting from this bad ingredient.

Susanne Løgstrup director of European Heart Network drew attention to the fact that 80% of cardiovascular diseases could be avoided if determinant factors are changed. TFA is one of these factors, and regulatory content limitation is, as “low hanging fruit”, is probably the easiest way to make a change. So the time for action has come.

David Coleman and Andrea Cataruzza spoke on behalf of Mars Incorporated and gave a clear explanation why some of the industry players found it important to ask, in a common letter with other stakeholders, for compulsory TFA limitation in the EU. Harms caused by TFA is a scientific fact and there are alternative solutions. Mars also provided detailed description on the chemical properties and effect mechanism of trans fatty acids.

In order to hear the voice of small and medium sized enterprises, Sándor Sánta executive manager of Chocco Garden Ltd sent his message. While SMEs shares the importance of regulatory TFA reduction, it is important for them, that sufficient transitional period and state supports and incentives are provided and communication of the new measures is coordinated in order to highlight the spirit of cooperation of all the stakeholders.

Miklós Szócska former Hungarian minister of state for health described in its message that in the light of the very bad Hungarian mortality rates how important it was to introduce a series of measures ranging from non-smoking regulations to TFA reduction. After the introduction of the new legislation, follow up measures are indispensable for efficient implementation and beneficial effects.

Jan Wollgast scientific and technical project officer of the European Commission Joint Research Centre provided a detailed presentation of the Commission TFA report. As it is widely known, the document concludes that legislative steps are necessary to limit the TFA content of foodstuffs, and this option deserves further assessment.

Stéphanie Bodenbach head of section, European Commission DG SANTÉ - Unit E4 Nutrition, food composition and information, informed the audience on the future steps planned by the Commission. The Commission has set up an Interservice Steering Group who should agree on an Inception Impact Assessment to be published for consultation.

At the end of the event Boot Letteke senior policy advisor of the Netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport gave an overview of the Dutch Presidency related to food improvement with central message of “Making the healthy choice the easy choice”.

The event was followed by a cocktail reception.

The presentations and speeches are available at the website of the Permanent Representation clicking here.

The Energy Union strategy and 2030 climate and energy framework with its ambitious decarbonisation objectives foresee a fundamental transformation of Europe's electricity system. The European economy will become increasingly dependent on electricity due to the progressing electrification of our society (increasing use of electricity in transport and heating)

The power sector plays a pivotal role in fulfilling the decarbonisation targets for the economy. The same time, our electricity markets are facing several challenges like: the transition towards a low carbon energy system, the cost-efficient integration of intermittent renewable energy, the phasing away from central conventional power plants to de-centralised renewable energy production, the active role and increased participation of energy consumers in electricity markets and the demanding task to safeguard security of supply in the short and long term in an efficient manner and at affordable costs.  Along this principles the Commission will present legislative proposals by the end of 2016 on the new electricity market design rules and on risk preparedness in the area of security of electricity supply. The ministerial discussion will serve as political orientation for these initiatives.

Miguel Arias Cañete, Commissioner for climate and energy emphasised that the future electricity market should work in a flexible way, based on price signals, encouraging investments.

At the ministerial Meeting Hungary was represented by Mr. András Aradszki, Minister of State for Energy. He underlined that adequately interconnected European energy grid is essential for the energy security of Europe and further investments are required in order to reach this objective. Renewable energy sources play an important role in the energy supply and the new electricity market design could further facilitate the integration of renewables. However, due to the different regional characteristics they cannot represent the same share in the energy mix of each country.

The number of the European Heritage Label sites has increased to twenty nine this year, already with two Hungarian sites, since also the Hungarian Pan-European Picnic Memorial Park in Sopron has received the European Heritage Label in earlier years. The European Heritage Label goes to cultural heritage sites important to the history and culture of the European Union as a whole.

Further information is available on the website of the European Commission:

European Heritage Label Ceremony 2016

European Heritage Label

The contest is a good opportunity for the students to test their foreign language competences through translation. Every year, 21 selected schools and 2-5 students per school may participate in the European level contest on behalf of Hungary. Students may choose the languages of translation in advance. This year’s winners took over their awards on 14 April 2016, in Brussels.

In Hungary, Franciska van Waarden, student of the Tinódi Sebestyén Secondary School and Vocational School for Tourism and Catering has won the competition this year, with her translation from Dutch to Hungarian.

More information on the website of the European Commission:

Juvenes Translatores

The discussion was triggered by the recent increase of specific innovative medicines’ prices which affects affordability hence the sustainability of not only the Member States with lower GDP but the better off ones as well. This is an alarm call that makes it necessary to cooperate more closely in the field of the pharma policy.

Hungary supports the cooperation in the field of health technology assessment and the regional cooperation between member states in the field of pricing and reimbursement, which may allow that countries in similar economic situation and healthcare establishment can more efficiently negotiate with pharma industry players enjoying monopolistic situation. In addition, Hungary considers that incentives enshrined in the EU law for promoting innovation did not fully achieve the legislator’s objective which is to ensure access to efficient pharmaceutical therapies for patients with unmet medical needs. Therefore we strongly support an overall analysis of the current system with a view of ensuring a fair, more proportionate and need based pharma innovation policy.

Mr. Beneda also expressed Hungary’s commitment in the field of food reformulation, another agenda item discussed during the Informal Council, as it is essential that salt, sugar, saturated fat and trans fatty acid content is significantly decreased in foodstuffs. For this reason, the Government endorsed the food reformulation roadmap put forward by the Dutch Presidency.

Antimicrobial resistance was also at the agenda of the meeting. Hungary shares the importance of the one health approach clearly expressing that AMR can not be faced through isolated actions of different policy sectors, but close cooperation is needed between human healthcare, veterinary care, environment and other policy makers.

Innovative, sustainable solutions for green mobility were a central topic of the minister’s agenda. Ministers agreed that for healthy environment and improving air quality specially in cities the transition to low or zero-emission fuels and vehicles is essential. To reach the global climate goals and to reduce EU fossil energy import dependency, rapid technological development is indispensable.

Parallel to the meeting of the environment ministers on green mobility, transport ministers discussed the topic of smart mobility and adopted the Declaration of Amsterdam on cooperation in the field of connected and automated driving. Ministers agreed that connected and autonomous driving technologies would lead to less CO2 emissions, safer and cleaner transport, less congestions on the roads, while at the same time Ministers also draw the attention to different challenges such as data protection, cybercrime, type approval, interoperability, common highway code, strengthening the digital infrastructure, liability and insurance issues. Several Member States reported that there are ongoing pilot projects and testing in this filed, and some of them already cooperate in different cross-border projects. Delegations were on the opinion that close cooperation is needed between Member States, EU institutions and stakeholders in order to allow these innovative systems to become available on the market.

After the discussions, Ministers visited the Innovation Expo in Amsterdam which is a showcase for of more than 200 projects and innovative designs on various topics such as urban design, mobility, circular economy, food production, logistics and water management. Transport ministers also had the chance to experience autonomous cars of different car manufacturers.

During the informal meeting the ministers also discussed the role of aviation and maritime transport sectors in reducing emissions. The ministers were unanimously of opinion that aviation and maritime transport should contribute to the long term global efforts.  The emissions should be reduced in both sectors, because emissions will increase considerably by 2030 according to current projections. Urgent and efficient measures should be introduced for emissions reduction. Ministers emphasized the role of international negotiations – with participation of EU Member States - under the International Civil Aviation Organization and  International Maritime Organization. They urged to introduce the monitoring of emissions and adopt global market based measure for emissions reduction as soon as possible.

Transport Ministers also touched upon the issue of transport security in the light of the recent terror attacks in Brussels, and briefly discussed how the transport sector is affected by border controls due to migration.

The Declaration of Amsterdam can be read here.
 

On the first day of the meeting ministers debated about the Posting of Workers dossier. A group of ministers emphasized the importance of the equal pay for equal work at the same place of work principle, the same protection of local and posted workers, and the unfair advantage of lower wages of posted workers. Their interventions also draw parity between posting and social dumping. Whereby other Member States, among them Hungary underlined the importance of the free movement of services, the need to wait for the results of the transposition of the enforcement directive, the unsatisfying impact assessment as well as the negative effects of the proposal on the Unions competitiveness. Deputy State Secretary Simon emphasized further, that Hungary will ask for the dossier being debated by the Competitiveness Council as well, and warned, that in case the rules for posting workers would be restricted, undeclared work will increase significantly.   

Commissioner Marianne Thyssen emphasized that the European Social model is very successful as most Europeans enjoy a high level of protection. Nevertheless a new reality check is needed, in order to make sure, that these rights are still accessible and sustainable for the next generation when facing the challenges of the 21st century.  That is the reason why the European Commission started a wide ranging consultation about the Pillar of European Social Rights. Deputy State Secretary Simon underlined the importance of the division of the members of the euro zone, and those Member States not using the single currency. He emphasized the need to preserve the integrity of the Single Market and that the relation of the Pillar to the social Acquis has to be clarified. 

At the end of the meeting, ministers briefly discussed questions relating to the platform against undeclared work. Ministers shared their priorities in connection to the newly set up framework. Hungary draw attention to the importance of data collection, cooperation and the need for a comprehensive study report on undeclared work in the EU.

The judgements point out that the tobacco directive is valid as in respect of the standardized packaking, ban on menthol flavouring and electronic cigarettes the directive’s provisions are necessary, proportionate and do not infringe fundamental rights.

In case C- 547/14 the validity of Article 24 (2) allowing member states to introduce further packaging criteria was a central issue. The Court declared that the Article must be interpreted as permitting Member States to maintain or introduce further requirements in relation to aspects of the packaging of tobacco products which are not harmonised by that directive.

 The Curia press release is available here.

Parliament decided to order the referendum with 136 government party and Jobbik votes in favour and 5 votes against from independent MPs.

The question to be put to the public at the referendum is as follows: “Do you agree that the European Union should have the power to impose the compulsory settlement of non-Hungarian citizens in Hungary without the consent of the National Assembly of Hungary”.

The parliamentary decision adopted today also states that a maximum of 4.9 billion forints (EUR 15.5M) may be spent on organising the referendum, which is expected to be held in early autumn.  500 million forints of this budget may be provided from funding previously awarded to the National Election Office.
Last week, the Curia rejected requests for legal redress submitted with regard to the National Election Office’s decision, thus giving the referendum the go-ahead.

15 days area available to submit possible complaints to the Constitutional Court with regard to today’s decision by Parliament; the body must review complaints within 30 days.

The official decision to order the referendum must also be published in the Hungarian Gazette. The date for the referendum will be set within 15 days by the President of the Republic; the referendum must take place on a Sunday between seventy and ninety days from the day is it is set.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced on 24 February that the Government was initiating a national referendum on the compulsory resettlement quota.

Head of the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister Antal Rogán said last week that the earliest date for the referendum was expected to be in September or early October.

The Government justified the need for a referendum with the fact that instead of Brussels only the people of Hungary can decide who they want to share their country with.

According to the Government, the referendum is becoming increasingly urgent because compulsory resettlement is a real and imminent danger, EU negotiations on the subject have begun and progress on the issue is now expected to become more rapid.

The European Commission’s proposal for compulsory resettlement and imposing a fine on countries that say no to the resettlement of immigrants was made public recently.

Brussels’ plan for the compulsory resettlement of immigrants and imposing related fines is unacceptable and contravenes both EU regulations and the European Union’s Basic Treaty. The Brussels politicians have simply lost their connection with reality and with their electorate and are asking as much money for a single migrant as an average Hungarian earns during 40 years of work. Brussels wants to charge 80 million forints per immigrant whereas it only spends 1 million forints on each Hungarian citizen.

According to the Government’s standpoint, the people of Hungary can use the referendum to stop Brussels and say no to the compulsory resettlement planned by Brussels.

Compulsory resettlement is therefore also an issue of sovereignty. The Government will be asking the people of Hungary to vote no to compulsory resettlement and make it clear that only the Hungarians can decide who we will admit into the country and who we will not. Those who vote no will be protecting Hungary’s independence from Brussels and will be saying no to compulsory resettlement.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister)

He underlined that as time goes by there is a serious threat that the sector will suffer irreversible damages. Along with other ministers he called the Commission to immediately adopt a new direct support package financed from the EU budget to help milk and pig farmers.  

Mr. Czerván drew attention to a theory, which is gaining strength among farmers that the EU refuses to take effective actions to solve the problem of the milk and pig meat sector. According to the State Secretary this would very much damage the agriculture sector’s faith in community capacity.

The head of the Hungarian delegation underlined that in the current difficult situation Hungarian farmers would need a similar package financed from EU funds like the one adopted last September.

Hungary in cooperation with other Central-European member states drew attention to recent severe damages due to late frost and snow, which caused significant losses mainly to grape and fruit producers. Together with the current market situation late frost causes further problems to the sector. In Hungary almost 6000 farmers notified their damages, which covers more than 38000 hectares. The estimated yield loss exceeds 30%, but in certain areas it can reach 100%. These numbers are expected to increase in the coming days. Hungarian beekeepers were also effected by extreme weather conditions. Frozen acacia blossoms causes huge problems to the apiculture sector. According to preliminary calculations frost has ruined the production of almost 4-7000 tons of acacia honey, which covers 40-50% of the Hungarian acacia honey production.

The simplification of the Common Agriculture Policy was also on the agenda. György Czerván outlined that Hungary is interested in a real simplification process, which not only decreases the administrative burdens of farmers, but also eases the implementation for national authorities.

Mr. Szijjártó told the press that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Schengen 2.0 proposal had also been included in the adopted document, which states that the Council will continue to look into the proposal.

“This step hopefully means that the European Union will be able to handle the migration crisis better as a whole”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

The Minister also said that the European Union foreign ministers had adopted the Hungarian proposal according to which the EU must examine the possibility of establishing so-called hot spots (EU-operated asylum seeker registration centres) outside the borders of the EU so that the question of who is entitled to enter the European Union can already be decided there.

In view of the fact that the reacceptance mechanism isn’t operating as expected, this proposal would prevent people from entering the territory European Union, in addition to which cooperation with countries of origin and transit countries could mean that the question of who is entitled to international protection could be determined in the given country.

“This could save lives, because if the decision is already made outside the territory of the European Union then tens of thousands of people will not attempt to reach the EU by sea. In addition, the measure could mean an end to the business model of people trafficker”, Mr. Szijjártó said.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister also told reporters that the issue of border protection had also been included in the Council Conclusions, which assures the protection of Europe and the people of Europe, in addition to which the Council also adopted Hungary’s proposal to support Iraqi Kurdistan, where hundreds of thousands of refugees are being cared for, in addition to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. The stability of Iraq and the Kurdish region are important to the country’s territorial integrity and also with relation to the fight against the Islamic State terrorist organisation, Mr. Szijjártó highlighted.

“Border protection and cooperation with third countries must be realised simultaneously. If one element is missing, the challenge cannot be handled”, the Minister added.

Mr. Szijjártó said that the EU foreign ministers had agreed that an increase in migration pressure can be expected in the long term because there are some 30-35 million people living in the vicinity of Europe who could decide to head for the continent because of their current situation.

“The complex nature of the migration crisis requires a complex solution and all measures must focus on reducing the pressure on Europe”, the Hungarian Foreign Minister declared.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade)

The LNG seminar was opened by Deputy Permanent Representative of Hungary to EU. Amb. Tibor Stelbaczky and the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the EU, Amb. Jakub Dürr, who highlighted the importance of energy security and LNG for the Danube region. A keynote speech was delivered by Ms. Andrea Kádar Deputy State Secretary for Energy and a kick off presentation was delivered on the topic of LNG from the European Commission’s perspective by Deputy Director-General of European Commission’s DG Energy, Christopher Jones.

The European Commission published its LNG and gas storage strategy in February which represents an important milestone in the realization of the Energy Union, with the main conclusion that the new LNG sources will contribute to the diversification and flexibility of gas supply and will enforce energy security. Central and South-Eastern Europe is heavily dependent on a single supplier and is vulnerable to supply interruptions, that is why the EU Strategy sets the objective to enable each Member State to have direct or indirect access to LNG resources. In this context the Seminar “LNG – Dream or Reality for the Danube Region?” intended to discuss, how the Danube Region could participate in the global gas market by gaining access to the LNG sources and how the Region could make the optimal use of the emerging LNG sources.

Nearly a hundred participants, stakeholders, energy companies and energy experts discussed and agreed  that LNG represents a huge potential for the Danube Region countries to strengthen security of supply and enhance competition in the gas market, but in order to exploit this potential closer regional cooperation, optimal use of existing cross-border infrastructure and swift development of missing interconnections is a prerequisite.

There were also presentations in the stakeholder sessions about the following topics: ‘EU LNG strategy – does one size fit all’ ‘What role can the Danube Region play in the LNG revolution’ and ‘LNG as an alternative fuel. The presentations of the Seminar will be available here.

The Council adopted a general approach on a draft decision aimed at freeing up 700 MHz band for mobile broadband services. The 700 MHz band (694-790 MHz), which offers high speeds and extensive coverage, would be made available for wireless broadband in Europe by 2020. According to the Council position, EU countries must reassign the 700 MHz band to wireless broadband services under harmonised technical conditions by 30 June 2020. If they are unable to do this they may decide, for duly justified reasons, to delay the availability of the band by up to two years. Broadcasting services would keep priority in the sub-700 MHz band (470–694 MHz). The Council position stipulates that member states must ensure the availability of the sub-700 MHz band for digital television at least until 2030, based on national needs.

The Council held a policy debate on the upcoming review of the EU telecoms rules. The questions prepared by the presidency focused on the three main topics of the review: 1) Access to fixed communication networks; 2) Management of spectrum for mobile communication networks; 3) Rules for providers of communication services.

In the debate, Hungary stressed that Hungary generally supports the approach for maintaining competition focused regulation. Hungary recognises that regulation in a more and more complex market situation may require a flexible toolbox. This flexibility should be further fostered in order for National Regulatory Authorities to use regulatory instruments complementarily, and where appropriate.

As far as spectrum management is concerned Hungary believes that the EU goals can be reached within the current regulatory framework and with enhanced interaction of current institutions (with the involvement of BEREC and RSPG).

It has to be carefully examined which rules of the current regulatory framework could be expanded to new market players. This means, it has to be assessed which obligations and rights are applicable to the new market players. I has to be kept in mind that these new services have a high innovation potential – which can be easily harmed by unreasonably detailed regulation.

The forthcoming review of EU telecoms rules  is foreseen for autumn 2016.

Lastly, the Dutch presidency reported on the endorsement of the deal on the first EU-wide rules on the accessibility of public sector websites and mobile applications. The presidency also briefed ministers on the draft directive on network and information security, on which the Council adopted its position at first reading. Once confirmed by the EP, both sets of rules (accessibility and security) could enter into force during the second half of the year.

In the course of the debate, ministers welcomed the Commission’s new proposals on e-commerce and digital platforms. They urged the prompt implementation of the Strategy and highlighted the importance of the innovation-friendly and flexible legislation. The Hungarian delegate especially welcomed that one of the main priority of the DSM Strategy is the elimination of geoblocking practices.

The Council agreed on a general approach on the draft Regulation on ensuring the cross-border portability of online content services in the internal market, meaning that the trialogues can soon be launched with the European Parliament. Ministers emphasized the importance of adopting the Regulation as soon as possible, since it would make it possible for Union citizens being temporarily present in another Member State to have access to those online contents (e.g. films, music) they are subscribed for in their Member State of residence.

The competitiveness check-up has become an established practice at the Competitiveness Council meetings. This time ministers discussed the impact of digitalisation on productivity, with a focus on the services sector. Hungarian Minister of State, István Lepsényi highlighted some of the main elements with EU- relevance of the National Infocommunication Strategy and of the Digital Welfare Programme in his intervention.

During the Competitiveness Council, ministers held a short exchange of views about the proposed revision of the so-called posting of workers directive. Eleven national Parliaments (including the Hungarian National Assembly) communicated their subsidiarity concerns about this proposal to the EU legislators, thereby triggering the „yellow card” procedure, for only the third time in the history of the Union. During the debate, the Member States opposed to the revision highlighted its negative impact on the single market and on competitiveness. Minister of State István Lepsényi expressed the Hungarian position by fully supporting the freedom to provide services, and asked the Commission to withdraw its proposal in light of the subsidiarity concerns raised during the yellow card procedure.

Peter ŽIGA, Slovakian Minister of Economy reported that during their Presidency priority will be given to the implementation of goals set out by the Digital Single Market Strategy and to the elimination of unjustified geographically-based restrictions. They intend to put emphasis on cooperation in the field of consumer protection and the modernization of the industry as well.

On its conclusions on the evaluation of the 7th research framework programme and the future outlook the Council notes that the €55 billion FP7 has proved to be effective in boosting excellent science, strengthening Europe’s industrial competitiveness and addressing societal challenges. The final evaluation and lessons learnt of the FP7 provide valuable findings to improve the implementation of the Horizon 2020 framework programme in the context of its mid-term review. In addition it is also essential for the design and implementation of the next research and innovation framework programme.

Finally, the Council also adopted conclusions on the creation of a research and innovation-friendly regulatory environment and on the transition towards an open science system. In the text of the conclusions Member States committed to open access to scientific publications by 2020 and to the best possible re-use of research data as a way to accelerate the transition towards an open science system.