Budapest, 12 November 2024
The competitiveness pact presented by the Hungarian presidency, the Budapest Declaration was adopted at the Friday informal meeting of the European Union’s heads of state and government. At a press conference held after the meeting, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said they want to make Europe great again.
At the beginning of the press conference held together with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, on behalf of Hungary, the Hungarian Prime Minister – similar to Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel – condemned the “anti-Semitic riots” that took place in Amsterdam.
The attack is also unacceptable for the Hungarian people, he stated, drawing attention to the fact that Budapest – where Europe’s largest synagogue and the city’s largest Catholic cathedral are only “a stone’s throw away” from each other – is a meeting place for different cultures, East and West, North and South, and this is what makes it so “especially tolerant.” “This is why we live together here in Budapest in peace and security, and I wish the people of Amsterdam that they, too, may succeed in achieving this,” he said.
In the context of the EU summit, he first pointed out that it was a well-known fact that there were serious political conflicts between the European Commission and Hungary, and he, too, had disputes with Ursula von der Leyen. At the same time, he stressed that the President of the Commission was now a guest in Budapest, in that capacity she was entitled to a courteous welcome and respect, and so there had been no serious debate, in fact, there had been no debate of any kind at all between them at the Council meeting.
“We will fight our battles in Brussels,” he observed.
He stated that there had been full agreement on the main topic of the summit, the issue of competitiveness, they had succeeded in achieving the goal set by the Hungarian presidency, namely the adoption of a competitiveness pact.
The Hungarian Prime Minister referred to the document as the “Budapest Declaration”, thanking his own colleagues, the President of the Commission, the President of the European Council and Mario Draghi, the author of the competitiveness report, for their respective contributions.
The document places competitiveness in the focus for the next five years, and states that immediate action is required, he said.
He highlighted that in the past two decades, the growth of the European Union had been permanently slower than that of China or the United States, productivity increased more slowly in Europe than in the countries of its competitors, while the EU’s share in world trade was on the decrease. Businesses in the EU are compelled to pay three times higher electricity prices and four times higher gas prices than their counterparts in the United States, he added.
Outlining some of the points of the declaration, he said they have resolved to carry out a simplification revolution with a view to reducing administrative burdens; by the end of the first half of 2025, they will drastically reduce the number of reporting obligations which impose a major burden on European businesses.
He added that they would adopt urgent measures in the interest of reducing high energy prices, and would also identify a genuine industrial policy during the period ahead. They all agreed that by 2030 they would spend 3 per cent of GDP on research and development, he reported.
They will also fully implement a capital markets union, he stated.
He also spoke about the fact that the amount of European people’s savings was higher than the savings of people in the United States. However, people in Europe keep their money in banks, and banks are “genetically” incapable of financing various high-risk high-tech investments.
He said bank deposits must be transferred to capital funds, European citizens must be convinced to assist this process in order to make the utilisation of funds for innovative economic solutions easier. They will take steps to this end, he indicated.
Mr Orbán said they also decided to create a European defence industry base.
The Hungarian Prime Minister said they further agreed that all new legislative proposals would be required to include an evaluation, a so-called competitiveness test in order to better understand what impact each new piece of legislation has on competitiveness.
He said the President of the European Commission and members of the Council also agreed that at the meetings of the European Council, they will regularly review the issue of competitiveness.
No one wants to manage the current decline; instead, we all want to make Europe great again.
Viktor Orbán Prime Minister of Hungary
Now that the Americans have decided to make America great again, the only possible European response to this is that “we in turn will make Europe great again,” he said in summary.
In answer to the question of why competitiveness has not already been improved and bureaucracy has not already been reduced, despite the fact that these are among the goals laid down in the Treaty of Lisbon, Ursula von der Leyen said since then enormous changes have taken place in the area of competitiveness, including, for instance, in research and development. She said at the talks they reviewed the performance of the various European sectors, and took stock of both strengths and weaknesses.
Ursula von der Leyen indicated that they will simultaneously cut red tape, including reporting obligations, and will present this to the Parliament and the Council in a joint proposal.
Regarding how they will negotiate with the new US President about trade, she said they will intend to keep in touch on an ongoing basis and will intend to conduct consultations about shared interests. She mentioned the procurement of liquefied natural gas as one of these areas, stressing that the EU is still buying a considerable amount of gas from Russia, and it would be worth replacing these supplies with American ones. This could help reduce energy prices, Ursula von der Leyen pointed out, adding that it would be well worth initiating talks about this as well as about the balance of trade.
In answer to a question, President of the European Council Charles Michel indicated that in the EU energy fell within national competence. Member States must nonetheless proceed together in order to reduce prices. We must take into consideration that energy is an instrument of sovereignty and also a strategic issue, he observed.
The same applies to financial markets, he said in continuation, underlining that this, too, serves as a means to direct investments towards European innovation. He highlighted that capacities must be released in the interest of economic growth, and referred to the fact that Mr Orbán had demonstrated with examples that the EU had fallen behind its competitors.
In the context of competitiveness, Mr Michel said we must admit that the situation is urgent. In answer to a question relating to the creation of the planned new financial instruments, he pointed out that we must not forget about solidarity. In his words, mutual trust depends not only on financial grants. The internal reforms that countries are prepared to carry out are also decisive.
Ursula von der Leyen stressed that there was clearly a need for more private investments as well as for more state investments. We must first identify priorities, she said. In her words, there are two solutions for financing any project on a European level: either with new own resources or with contributions to the common budget. Both require a capital increase, she pointed out.
In the context of the newly adopted pact, Mr Orbán said it was easy to agree on competitiveness because it was a pragmatic issue, rather than ideological. In answer to a question, he also spoke about the fact that the goals set in Lisbon were no longer realistic, great changes had taken place since then. He described the attainment of the goals set as a leadership issue, saying that if Europe has a good leadership, they can achieve these goals, while if Europe has a weak leadership, that leads to failure.
He also said there had previously been much talk about Hungary’s isolation, that Hungary was not well-liked, that the summit would be a failure, and European leaders would not even attend. What happened in the end was that now they all stand here, there was good cooperation, they had an excellent summit, he stressed. They adopted the competitiveness pact which everyone previously regarded as an impossible endeavour. They trust each other and as good leaders they will be able to achieve the competitiveness goals now disclosed to the public, he stated.
Regarding future relations with the United States, the Hungarian Prime Minister said he expects tough negotiations. In his view, Donald Trump will most certainly have specific ideas about what turn trade should take, “evidently, on the basis of the American interests.” Europe will have to stand up for itself, will have to negotiate and will have to come to an agreement in the end,” he stated.
In answer to another question, the Prime Minister said there are two months left of the Hungarian presidency, and this meeting was “a fine little gathering, with fine results,” but he has a few more surprises up his sleeve.
Regarding financial grants intended for Ukraine, Ursula von der Leyen said, in addition to the fund of EUR 50 billion, the loan of the G7, too, constitutes an important facility for Ukraine up to 2026. She stated that Russia was a threat not only to Europe, but to the security of the entire world. Russia is adapting increasingly to Iran and North Korea, and “feeds, fuels this war” together with China, she explained, observing that Russia uses Chinese and Iranian technologies on the battlefield which shows that the security of the Pacific and the security of Europe are tied together.
Charles Michel added to this that steps must be taken in the interest of a fair peace, but “without Ukraine nothing can be decided about Ukraine.” He took the view that if Europe sends a signal of weakness to the Kremlin, it would relay the message to also other regimes that they are free to violate international law, and as a result, Europe would become vulnerable.
In the context of the war, Mr Orbán recalled that he had first stated his position on the issue in March 2022 which had not changed since. “The Hungarian position is clearly a pro-peace and pro-Hungarian position,” he pointed out, stating that upon the outbreak of the war, Hungary provided the greatest humanitarian assistance for the Ukrainians, having taken in hundreds of thousands of refugees. At the same time, it is not prepared to become involved in a military conflict.
He stressed that if someone had an opinion that was different from the opinion of the others, “that’s not isolation, it’s only a debate.” This is how democracy was born, he said, stating that “functioning in a headwind from a political viewpoint is part of my DNA.” He added that in 2015 Hungary was alone with the construction of the fence and the idea that we must stop migration at our borders. “We were alone, but we didn’t become isolated, we were part of a debate,” he stressed.
In answer to another question related to the war, the Hungarian Prime Minister said Ukraine is a sovereign country, the Ukrainians must decide whether to continue the fight.
“I never try to dictate to the Ukrainians, it’s their country, it’s their future, it’s their life […], but I’m prepared to help them any time,” he said. He also recalled that during his visits to Kiev and Moscow he had come away with the feeling that neither of the warring parties was ready for a ceasefire and that both were convinced that time was on their side. The Hungarian Prime Minister pointed out that he had attempted to create an international pro-peace environment which would enable the warring parties to conclude a ceasefire sooner or later.
Discover more about this event
The full text of the Budapest declaration
More pictures on the Flickr page of the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU
Source – Hungarian EU Presidency