Hongarije bereidt zich voor op een efficiënt en professioneel Voorzitterschap van de Unie (en)

„Everything has to be organised in a way that satisfies delegations and journalists arriving from Brussels, who are all accustomed to quality infrastructure and service, so the challenge is on - said Ferenc Robák, the Government Commissioner responsible for the logistic management of the Hungarian Presidency in early December. - We are doing our best to fulfil the requirements to the maximum, but we will avoid any unnecessary excesses.”

Hungary is spending a total of HUF 23,78 billion on the Hungarian Presidency, including the expenses of the preparations that have been underway since 2007. HUF 6,9 billion were spent on preparations, and HUF 15,5 billion have been planned for the six months of the Presidency, which will span the first half of 2011. This amounts to EUR 85 million at end of November 2010 currency rates. According to Ferenc Robák this can be considered to be a sparing budget as the budgets of Presidencies of previous years were between EUR 80-150 million. (It is however difficult to appreciate the actual spending of previous Presidencies due to the difference in accounting practices.)

„The basic concept was to use taxpayers’ money in the most efficient manner possible” - emphasised the Government Commissioner. To achieve this, the Government contributed to the renovation of the state-owned buildings that will serve as event venues by drawing on the Presidency budget. In exchange, no rental fee will be charged when a Council Meeting of Ministers or an expert-level meeting is held there.

The other element of Presidency expenditure is related to the fact that, owing to the excess workload, the total headcount of Hungarian Ministries was increased by 225 officials. In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Minister of State responsible for EU i Affairs was increased by three temporary departments.

The total number of staff posted at Hungarian delegations abroad was also increased by 120; more than two-thirds of them now reinforce the Permanent Delegation of Hungary in Brussels.

„The Presidency is testing the entire Hungarian public administration” - admitted Robák. Almost 260 events will be held countrywide during the first half of 2011, when Hungary assumes the office of the rotating Presidency.

The main event venue will be the former royal palace, which is one of the largest baroque palaces of Hungary, in the small town of Gödöllo, 26 kilometres east of Budapest. The Commissioner considers it symbolic that the majority of Hungarian Presidency events will be organised there. “Just because we became a modern European country, we need not disregard our roots” - said Ferenc Robák.

Of course Gödöllo was not only chosen for symbolic reasons, but also for practical ones; mainly to avoid making life difficult in Budapest with an average of three Ministerial meetings held each month. The capital - together with its suburbs - of two million people is, like most major cities, already waging a daily struggle against traffic jams. Commissioner Robák emphasised that “traffic in Budapest will not be paralysed because of Presidency motorcades”.

Organisers estimate that during the six months, Hungary will host about 35-40 thousand official guests. The accommodation of the highest-ranking foreign delegation members - as is practice in the EU - will be paid by Hungary. Like every other country during the Presidency, Hungary will also provide transportation services for delegates between their hotels and the event venues; the Hungarian organisers will also cover the expenses of catering, information technology required during the conferences, translation, interpretation, host broadcasting services related to events in Hungary and also the Presidency webpage.

Hungary will rent - at a discounted price - 100 Audi and 45 Skoda vehicles, as well as 50 VW vans, 10 Saab passenger cars for the airport and another 2 Citroen vans and a lorry.

In order to save on expenses, the recently built - but not yet inaugurated - facility of the Hungarian Postal Service at Ferihegy Airport will be transformed into a Government Lounge, where - if needed - several Head of State level delegations can be accommodated. The Hungarian State is paying a discounted rental fee for this to the Hungarian Post.

The software required for running the official webpage of the Presidency was handed over free of charge to Hungary by the previous Presidency country, Belgium. This cooperation between the two countries could even be the beginning of a tradition. As the functions and services of two successive Presidencies websites are similar, Member States can better economise on taxpayer money if they share the common elements of the websites.

Event participants are usually offered souvenirs by the Presidency in office. In accordance with the unwritten rules of the EU, the value of these souvenirs may not exceed EUR 200 (about HUF 50,000) even in the case of the highest ranking heads of delegations. Delegation members and journalists will receive modest national souvenirs.

It is the firm intent of the Hungarian Presidency to present Hungarian wine culture and gastronomy. Only Hungarian wines will be served at Hungarian Presidency events. The host of the events in Brussels, the General Secretariat of the Council will “adopt” more than 3 500 bottles of Hungarian wines alongside the other world famous drinks they have in store. Hungarian wine has probably never received such promotion before.

The Commissioner responsible for operational issues was satisfied with the status of logistic preparations in early December. “We hope that the prestige of Hungary will increase and its influence in the EU will be larger after the Presidency” - said Ferenc Robák.