Hongaarse academische kringen leven op in voorbereiding op EU-Voorzitterschap

The Hungarian Presidency beginning on 1st January 2011 has exhilarated Hungarian professional and academic circles. During the course of last year numerous conferences and academic events dealt with the benefits of the next six months for Hungary.

2010 was the year of EU i-related conferences in Hungary. Several professional organizations, youth and student bodies, academic societies and institutions decided to organize events that would study certain segments of the rotating Hungarian Presidency, which begins on 1^st January 2010. Everyone could find topics of their interest ranging from institutional approach conferences to policy workshops.

The most significant series of events was organized by the Institute for Political Sciences of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS). The conferences - also attended by foreign invitees -covered all the area of EU policies and assessed, evaluated the Hungarian position on these fields. The “It’s our turn!” conferences, which are financed with government support, began in January 2009 and last until June 2011. Their purpose is to provide a continuous, neutral forum of discussion and information amidst the changes in government and daily politics.

At the latest event, Roland Nátrán, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry for National Economy spoke about the most important task of the next six months, the strengthening of economic governance structures. In his speech, he emphasized that the first half of 2011 is going to be the first period when the economic policy programs of the Member States will be prepared according to the European Semester, meaning that the practice to be adopted by the Hungarian Presidency will create a precedent.

Beside economic issues, the most popular conference topic was the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, which is of outstanding interest for Hungary as well. Etelka Barsi-Pataky, the Government Commissioner responsible for the Strategy briefed audiences about the opportunities offered by the second macro-regional cooperation of the EU. From the event co-organized by the Budapest Business Region cluster and the Ministry of National Development, through the event of Europrosperity 2010 Foundation to the professional day organized by the Hungarian Hydrological Society, all kinds of audiences were interested in how the Danube-strategy will contribute to the development of the region.

The popularity of the conferences organized around topics related to the Hungarian Presidency shows well the extent of attention that Hungary will be receiving during the next six months. Besides the academic and professional organizations the civil sector showed significant interest as well. More than 160 representatives of several dozens of organizations attended the Civil Debate organized in the Hungarian National Assembly. The Hungarian Presidency is on the opinion that everyone can contribute to the success, thus the consultation at the event revolved around how the civil organizations can link to the implementation of the Presidency program. Foreign Minister János Martonyi explained that the success of Hungary will increase the prestige and the influence of Hungary in the European Union and the world alike.