Hongaarse minister van Europese zaken evalueert het voorzitterschap van de EU (en)
On 30 June, the Hungarian Presidency of the EU will come to an end. After a six-month mandate, Eniko Gyori, the Hungarian Minister of State for EU affairs today presented an assessment of the Presidency at the European Economic and Social Committee's (EESC) June plenary session. Members of the EESC also had the opportunity to discuss the outcome of the current presidency of the Council with the Hungarian representative.
Minister Gyori highlighted the implementation of the new EU2020 Strategy, carried out during the Hungarian Presidency, and the agreement on economic governance and financial services. According to her, countries must work closer to achieve all necessary reforms in economic matters. "Under the current economic situation, we need more than ever a greater Europe. Speculation should be excluded from our lives. We should go back to an EU economy based on real work", she said.
Representatives of all EESC Groups (Employers, Workers and Various interests) praised the Hungarian Presidency, and acknowledged the difficult situation it had to embark upon. "Everybody in our group thinks it has been a very satisfactory presidency. Some voices raised scepticism at the beginning of the Presidency, but you managed to make sure that a "Stronger Europe" was not just a logo, but also a reality" stated Henri Malosse (Employers' Group, France), referring to the Hungarian Presidency's emblematic motto.
The Workers' Group was especially interested in how the economic crisis and further adjustments were going to affect social protection in Europe. They regret that an agreement between the European Parliament and the Council on parental leave had not yet been reached, and that unemployment was still a major concern. Grabiele Bischoff (Workers' Group, Germany) said: "We cannot stand a society where an entire generation of well prepared and educated youngsters is left aside".
Ioannis Vardakastanis (Various Interests' Group, Greece) thanked the Hungarian Presidency for its work done on the coordination of actions in support of disabled people in the EU. In the other hand, Roman Haken (Various Interests' Group, Czech Republic) raised concerns on the next reform of the Common Agriculture Policy and future funding for farmers.
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