There will be 278 new government windows by next March, and a number of procedural fees will be reduced or done away with altogether as of 1 January, János Lázár, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office said at the press conference “Governmentinfo 26 – What does the Government do and why?” which he held jointly with State Secretary for Government Communications András Giró-Szász.
As the first important step of the reduction of red tape, Mr Lázár made mention of a legislative package containing the amendment of 110 laws which Parliament started debating this week. The general administration deadlines will be shortened significantly, and the State will be required to administer affairs within maximum 60 days.
He said: there will be 278 new government windows by next March, and HUF 10 billion will be spent on the refurbishment of various offices. At the same time, a number of procedural fees will be reduced or done away with altogether as of 1 January. Among the procedures which will be free of charge in the future, the Minister mentioned the issuance of student cards, the higher education entrance procedure, the issuance of certificates of good conduct, and the issuance of tax certificates and company documents for businesses. Further plans include, he continued, that the State will issue new documents to replace stolen ones free of charge, and in the case of inheritance, the registration of title will also be free of charge.
At the press conference, the Minister spoke in favour of the simplification of tax procedures, and said that – instead of continual tax inspections and the imposition of fines – the premise should be that taxpayers are law-abiding.
In answer to a question, he said: he will submit a proposal to Parliament regarding the reduction of procedural fees before the end of this month, and will submit another proposal in November which will contemplate a 30 per cent pay rise on average for public administration workers as of next July.
Border fence is almost complete on Croatian border
The security border fence is ninety-nine per cent complete on the Hungarian-Croatian border, János Lázár, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office informed the press.
As he said, the Hungarian Government is at present conducting international consultations in the interest of adopting its measure related to the operation of the security border fence. The Cabinet is hoping that this issue will be decided in the next week.
Hungary is planning to protect the Hungarian-Croatian border together with the Visegrád Member States (V4: in addition to Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland), he told the press, adding that Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó and Minister of Interior Sándor Pintér will consult with the V4 on the issue on Thursday in Luxembourg.
In Mr Lázár’s words: there is an organised human trafficking operation taking place against Hungary, with the intensive involvement of the Croatian State.
We are hoping that, after the operation of the border fence, the pressure of migration will significantly abate or will avoid Hungary, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office added.
In answer to the question as to why the Hungarian-Croatian border has not been closed yet, the politician referred to Croatia’s EU membership, on the one hand, and then remarked that there was a grace period also in the case of the Serbian border closure. He further mentioned the contemplated V4 border protection cooperation, and the fact that the positions of Austria and Germany on the issue are likewise not irrelevant.
The Minister further told the press that some 600,000 illegal migrants may well arrive in Hungary in total this year. Mr Lázár pointed out that 176,205 persons have submitted asylum claims to date, and 764 applications were filed last week. As the reason for the decrease, he reiterated that Croatia, too, is now meeting its obligation of registration.
More than 400 persons have been prosecuted to date due to prohibited border crossing: 183 persons have been banned from Hungary for one year, 201 persons are not allowed to enter the territory of the country for two years, and there were two individuals who are banned from Hungary for 3 and 5 years, respectively. In another two cases, reprimands were issued, he explained. In ten cases, the court sent the documents back to the prosecution service, the procedure was terminated on one occasion, and 11 persons have appealed against the decisions. The Minister indicated: the Government is ready to pay for all excess court expenditures. They expect the National Office for the Judiciary to state their claim at the end of October.
Mr Lázár further reported that HUF 60 billion has been used to date from the central budget for the management of immigration. According to the data of the central operational corps, the Hungarian railway company MÁV has spent HUF 524 million, the Budapest transport company BKV has spent – based on the currently available information – HUF 160 million, while the Volán coach companies have spent HUF 200 million on the transportation of migrants; in total, these expenditures amount to more than HUF 1 billion with VAT.
Budapest Bank and MKB may be sold
The Minister was also queried about the intended accession of FHB to the integrated savings cooperatives. He said in reply: the Government fully supports this move. It would reinforce integration and the bank concerned, and this measure would fully meet all the requirements of the central bank.
Mr Lázár said in answer to a question regarding the sale of the majority stake in MKB Bank: in Europe it is not customary for a State to remain present on the market of commercial banks with a large stake over an extended period. Commercial banks which are temporarily in state ownership must be sold on the market. The Government has adopted a decision to the effect that MKB should be sold as early as this year, but within six months, at the latest, while Budapest Bank may be sold in the first half of next year. In the interest of boosting growth, it is necessary to support commercial lending in Hungary, and therefore Hungary must engage in ongoing talks with the EBRD to ascertain how commercial banks in Hungary could achieve this, he pointed out, indicating: this is not about reviewing the former agreement. On the contrary, this is about observing it, and raising further options of assistance. In the case of MKB, he described any idea that may suggest the acquisition of a majority foreign stake as a mistake as, in his view, the bank must remain in Hungarian ownership.
Prime Minister has completed government reshuffle
In answer to another question, the Minister announced: the Prime Minister has completed the government reshuffle, both regarding personnel issues and in an organisational sense. All changes will be implemented in the next ten days, and the new Minister and new State Secretaries will receive their appointments.
In rendering an account of the last two government meetings, Mr Lázár said: at the meetings, they covered Hungary’s waste management strategy, in the context of which the Cabinet finds it important that, instead of waste disposal sites which are filling up one by one, waste incineration facilities should also be established, while selective waste collection is also regarded as a priority.
The Government will further propose the amendment of laws concerning policing, he continued, among others, in the interest of the operation of the 365 fixed speed cameras.
He also informed the press: the Cabinet authorised Minister of Human Resources Zoltán Balog to submit Hungary’s bid for the organisation of the 2019 European Maccabi Games. He estimated the preliminary costs – not including any infrastructure costs – to be in the magnitude of HUF 2 billion.
In answer to a question, the Minister told the press: the Government is expecting a proposal from the Chair of the railway company MÁV regarding the full refurbishment of the Western Railway Station and a green area rehabilitation programme covering the MÁV areas located between the railway station and the City Park (Városliget).
Mr Lázár repeatedly expressed his condolences on behalf of the Government on account of the passing away of former head of state Árpád Göncz, and offered the Cabinet’s assistance with the organisation of the funeral.
There will be public land sale auctions
János Lázár, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office justified the programme relating to the sale of state-owned arable land with the prevention of the acquisition of land by foreigners.
The politician said: in order to prevent foreigners from acquiring landed property in Hungary, it is important to guarantee the option of purchasing state-owned land for Hungarian farmers who wish to avail themselves of this possibility. Later on, Brussels “may force us” to accept that foreigners may buy land in Hungary, he added.
He stressed: the land sale auctions will be public auctions, and any piece of land may only be sold minimum 10 to 20 per cent above the market price. The first auctions will be published for landed areas in Győr-Moson-Sopron, Vas, Nógrád, Heves, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg and Hajdú-Bihar Counties, and auctions will begin in November.
He confirmed that the Government is planning to sell 380,000 hectares of state-owned land, and an area of 1.5 million hectares will remain in state ownership.
It is difficult to estimate the land sale revenues; according to calculations, revenues could amount to as much as HUF 300 billion, “but this is not what we are planning” because the most important thing is that the revenue derived from these sales cannot be just consumed but must be used for the development of the country, the Minister said.In answer to a question regarding his statements made in the parliamentary committee in connection with the landed property of the State and the “uncontrolled stealing” of state-owned agricultural companies, Mr Lázár responded by saying that at the meeting of the committee he did not voice his own experiences; in fact, he could not have done so as the Hungarian State has no agricultural enterprise engaged in the cultivation of arable land at present. This is the case, he explained, because, regardless of party affiliation, everyone knows that it does not lead to any beneficial result. It is a generally held view that whenever the Hungarian State cultivates land, it can only create trouble. “This is what we heard about the heads of agricultural cooperatives in the eighties, and then about the green barons, and everyone was of the opinion that the State should do better not engaging in agricultural activities, and then both Fidesz and MSZP sold the agricultural businesses in state ownership”, he argued.
Regarding the investigation of the Government Control Office extending to 22 forestries, he said: he does not wish to make any comments before the investigation of the Government Control Office is closed. However, based on the information which has been released to the public so far, it would be the mildest thing to say that a few things are not quite in order with forestries.