Minister of State for EU Affairs Szabolcs Takács from the Prime Minister’s Office held talks with Austrian Secretary-General for Foreign Affairs Michael Linhart on 5 October 2017.
At the meeting, the parties discussed the future of the European Union, the migration crisis, the future of the Schengen Area, the posting directive and Brexit. Both parties stressed that the migration crisis is a long-term challenge, and the first step in sustainably managing the issue must be to handle problems outside the EU. “The key to stopping the inflow of illegal immigrants is the reinforcement of the European Union’s external borders, with relation to which Hungary has played a determining role with the fence it has constructed along its border with Serbia using national resources. Through protecting the Schengen borders Hungary has contributed and will continue to contribute to the security of all EU citizens, but we are firmly against the extension of internal border controls within the Schengen Area”, Mr. Takács underlined.
Internal Schengen border controls are also causing economic damage, the effects of which may be felt by every citizen of the European union, in addition to which they also contribute to increasing divisions between member states. Both parties highlighted the fact that a new wave of migration is being felt via the Black Sea.
The Minister of State highlighted the fact that Hungary always cooperates with European institutions, but it not only regards the upholding of common EU regulations as mandatory with regard to itself, but also expects the same from Brussels. “Within the framework of the debate on the future of Europe, Hungary is only willing to accept a solution that is based on an agreement between member states, and which contributed to reinforcing the EU’s security and competitiveness instead of further centralising political power”, he said. With regard to Brexit, the parties agreed that Brexit negotiations are progressing slowly in Brussels, but the rights and interests of EU citizens working in Great Britain must be guaranteed under all circumstances, of which there currently seems to be a good chance.
Secretary-General for Foreign Affairs Linhart informed his Hungarian negotiating partner with relation to the priorities and targets of the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which is scheduled for 2018. Mr. Linhart highlighted the fact that the Austrian Presidency will be concentrating on joint defence policy, digitalisation and the Western Balkan enlargement process.
Mr. Takács stressed that similarly to Hungary, Austria is also committed to facilitating the EU integration of the countries of the Western Balkans, and accordingly the Austrian presidency represents an outstanding opportunities for both countries to put forward a credible EU perspective on the issue.
With relating to Turkey, Mr. Linhart emphasised that enlargement negotiations with the Turkish government must be suspended, but the parties nevertheless agreed on the importance of maintaining pragmatic relations with Turkey.
With relation to the reviewing of the Posting Directive, Mr. Takács stated that since the publishing of the Commission’s proposal, the countries of the Visegrád Group (V4) firmly objected to the amendment of the Directive, because instead of protecting workers it would in fact lead to a restriction of EU fundamental rights, and especially the unjustified restriction of the freedom to provide services, and to a reduction in the European Union’s competitiveness. “We should instead be working to reduce fraud and close loopholes”, he said. In addition, the Minister of State stressed: “As the current president of the V4, Hungary is working to develop a compromise that handles the special situation of the freight transport sector in a suitable manner. If the Directive is amended without the inclusion of such a compromise, it would create yet another political fault-line between member states”. Mr. Takács also added that the EU could contribute to balancing the wage gap to the greatest extent through its cohesion policy.