“The Government is ready to begin talks on public education at any time, but asks that politics isn’t taken into schools”, the Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office said at the Government Info 38 press conference.
János Lázár declared: the Government believes in dialogue, cooperation and discussion, and accordingly school district leaders are listening to school directors even as we speak. Negotiations headed by Minister for Human Capacities Zoltán Balog will begin on 9 February and the Government is prepared to consider suggestions on a good many topics, he said.
However, the Minister also stressed that the education system prior to 2010 had failed and so reinstating it is out of the question. “Any restoration attempt is inconceivable”, there will be no point to negotiations unless we talk about the future, he declared.
Mr. Lázár told the press that in both international and European comparison, both the student-teacher ratio and the number of lessons children have each day is lower than in similar countries. Plans for introducing a 9-year primary school system are still on the agenda, and the primary question is what exactly children should learn, he said.
With relation to school maintenance Mr. Lázár said that the development of a professional management system cannot occur from one day to the next and the state has had no experience managing schools over the past 30 years. The increasingly poor results of students was perhaps also related to management in the past, he noted.
British EU Referendum –unified V4 standpoint required
Mr. Lázár also spoke about the fact that only a unified V4 standpoint can be viable with regard to the European Union proposal package developed following British demands for reform. Detailed negotiations are ongoing with Visegrád Group partners concerning the rights of Hungarian workers employed in Great Britain. This will also be a topic of the V4 summit in Prague on 15 February, he added.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will be holding meeting in Moscow on 17 February, after which he will take part at the session of the European Council in 18-19 February, he noted.
On the subject of the Prime Minister’s Moscow negotiations, he said that negotiations with Moscow have occurred regularly during the past five years in view of Hungarian-Russian relations and there is nothing out of the ordinary with regard to the current meeting, which will primarily centre on bilateral relations, but the crisis in Ukraine and the migration crisis will undoubtedly also crop up during talks. Preparations for the Paks project are going ahead at full steam, he noted.
Mr. Lázár also said that Hungary has always supported US efforts to assist the region. If a request were to arrive via NATO, Hungary is prepared to cooperate, but no concrete request has arrived as yet, he stressed.
With regard to the possible amendment of the Constitution, the Minster explained that the debate on the level at which individual rights may be curtailed in the interests of maintaining order is a legitimate one, but in his view without the amendment the Hungarian Defence Force can currently only help the police with great difficulty and bureaucracy, which reduces everyday security.
According to Mr. Lázár people “will have done the country a disservice” if they do not support making us capable to maintain order, pre-empt trouble and guarantee security. Opposition parties are mixing party politics into an issue of national security, which is too great a risk given the current situation, he added.
Mr. Lázár also mentioned the fact that a politician cannot influence the operation of the courts and must not apply pressure, but there have been several court ruling recently that have caused huge public outcry. Nobody wants to call into question the independence of the courts, but in turn, courts cannot be independent of reality. Certain rulings offend society’s sense of justice and this reduces faith and confidence in the judicial system, he pointed out.
Mr. Lázár also said that many farmers believe the Agriculture and Rural Development Agency is not protecting their interests, but rather those of the European Union. What is happening there is “scandalous”, the Government cannot give its name to such action and the future of the Agency depends on the upcoming decision, he said, adding that the distribution of funding is not influenced by the fact that an Agency happens to have been placed under the sphere of authority of a Ministry.
With relation to the auctioning off of state land, the Minister said that 140 thousand hectares of land will be auctioned in the second phase under similar terms and conditions. 10 thousand successful applicants were awarded land during the3 first phase of auctioning, including 13 foreigners who are not dual nationals but have become integrated into Hungarian society to a great extent in recent years, he explained.
On the subject of the milk sector, he stated that the Government must decide whether it is better to provide more funding to producers temporarily or in the long term. He indicated that the government would be setting up an investment stimulation cabinet on Friday as well as an economic cabinet, in addition to which it will be authorising the construction of the M4 dual carriageway between Abony and the M0 motorway.
The Minister also reported on the fact that the 30 thousand pages of Századvég Research Foundation reports had been handed over to the applicant following the recent court ruling.
In reply to a question he said the Cabinet would be discussing a proposal on replacing the current structure with a new system that provides greater opportunities for tourism, adding that the Prime Minister would be visiting Szeged in March to discuss the city’s development plans.
In reply to another question, the Minister estimated the cost of reducing bureaucracy at around ten billion forints (EUR 32M), but added that the measures will lead to saving of three to four times this figure.
He also said the government would be examining progress in the use of the 50 billion forint fund set up to facilitate Hungarian enterprises in Vojvodina, which is the most significant cross-border economic stimulus activity in the last 25 years.
Mr. Lázár also said that in view of the fact that there had been several differences of opinion between the Austrian and Hungarian governments in recent months, he had felt the need to accept an invitation on the part of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) to attend tonight’s performance at the Vienna State Opera.
Family Home Allowance – Builders will be held responsible
Mr. Lázár told the press that on Wednesday the Cabinet had discussed building regulations with relation to the new Family Home Allowance. The Government and the Chamber of Architects will be working together to develop a sample agreement and reinforce the legal relationship between owner and architect, meaning the architect will be responsible for construction works, he said.
Architects will have to conform to all local and national regulations, which will guarantee that no buildings are constructed that negatively affect the cityscape or village landscape, he stressed.
The Government is prepared to introduce compulsory architectural management, meaning that the architect will have to inspect the building works on six occasions during the course of construction, for which he/she may charge a maximum of 180 thousand forints. The architect and his/her employees will be responsible for the quality of construction and for fully realising the building plan, he emphasised.
According to Mr. Lázár, a building permit will still not be required, but the architect must submit plans to the authorities. Permit and realisation plans will be combined to create a simplified realisation plan.
The principal will sign an agreement with the architect, who must produce a simplified realisation plan and submit it to the local municipality; once the municipality has indicated that it has accepted the plan, construction work can commence, the Minister said, detailing the procedure.
According to Mr. Lázár, the new regulations serve as a warranty to banks that mortgaged buildings will not be demolished, but is also a guarantee for municipalities and city conservation societies.
The Minister also stated that the Government had come to an agreement with the Chamber of Architects to develop a new Act on city and settlement landscape, which would enable municipalities to protect buildings that are important to the cityscape.
According to Mr. Lázár, interest in the Family Home Allowance scheme has been unexpected and overwhelming. 40 billion forints (EUR 128M) have been earmarked for this purpose in this year’s budget, and this is not the ceiling, but the minimum amount, he stated.
The Minister reminded the press that architects and engineers had expressed their concerns regarding the changing building regulations on several forums.
He also spoke about the fact that contradictory legal regulations must be put in order with regard to the scheme and regulations must be transparent, simple and easily applied.
According to our surveys and research, 80-90 percent of the population support the government providing assistance to families who undertake to have children, he said.
The regulations will be back-dated to 1 January to include all existing agreements, he stated.
The government would maintain contact with financial institutions who provide loans within the scheme via the Banking Association, he added.
Negotiations have also been held with the County Towns Association, and mayors have reported that there has been heightened interest in the program at government offices and several municipalities are considering providing free plots for the construction of new housing within the framework of the scheme.
15 percent reduction in staff in 2017 budget for central public administration bodies
In the spirit of reducing bureaucracy, János Lázár will be recommending a 15 percent reduction of staff at central public administration bodies in the 2017 budget. He will also be proposing the launching of a voluntary termination program for public servants, he said.
For the new public official faculty to be established, district and government offices must be reorganised, the Minister said, according to whom there are currently 36 people employed within the two systems and this number must be reduced to 30 thousand by the end of the year. If numbers are successfully reduced to below 30 thousand, salaries will increase by a total of 50 percent by 2018, he added.
Mr. Lázár repeated the fact that he has recommended to the Prime Minster that Ministry’s should receive 20 percent less in predesignated pay in the case of employees transferred from background institutions.
Within the framework of the proposed voluntary termination program, people who resign their duties at such state bodies between 1 July 2016 and 1 January 2017 could receive a much higher pay-out of 5-10 million forints if they undertake not to seek employment at a state of local government company within the next 10-15 years.
The Minister indicated that the Government was planning to relaunch the Career Bridge Programme, thorough which employers are eligible for funding if they employ people who have recently left the civil service.
People who have reached retirement age must retire from the civil service and no new employees will be hired to replace them, Mr. Lázár said, adding he hoped the relative decisions would be made before the end of the month.
Mr. Lázár also said he would be recommending to the Prime Minister that employment at state-owned companies should also be reviewed before the end of the year.
Hungary is an over-regulated country and bureaucracy is working against competitiveness, he stressed, noting that neighbouring countries are ahead of Hungary when it comes to competitiveness.
Today, there are ninety institutions in Hungary that are maintained form the central budget, and these increase bureaucracy, he said, admitting that this is a sensitive issue in view of the fact that it concerns the home territory of Minsters and the pro-Fidesz directors they have appointed.
According to Mr. Lázár, no matter who is running the country after 2018, they will have a very difficult time with the current level of state bureaucracy. Reducing the number of bureaucratic institutions is all about improving the ability to govern the country, he said, adding that while in certain European states the ratio of state employees is 10-12 percent, this figure is 18-20 percent in Hungary, which is equivalent to 1 million people.
According to the Minister, the closure of the 73 institutions and their integration into various Ministries serves to improve competitiveness. He described the planned model by stating: Ministries create, while district and government offices implement.
He also stated that 110 pieces of legislation and 158 implementation decrees had already been amended in the spirit of reducing bureaucracy. He proposed that Ministries should follow the British model whereby if they propose new legislation the must name two pieces of legislation that they would like to see abolished.
Mr. Lázár also stated that with relation to Euroe3pan Union funding for the period 2014-2020 he would be recommending that everyone who wins a tender for EU funding should receive an advance of 50 percent to begin the realisation of the development project in question.
The Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office reported on the fact that the Prime Minister had asked András Tállai, the Ministry for National Economy’s Minister of State for Tax Affairs, to put forward a proposal for the amendment of tax procedures in view of the fact that in Hungary today an average Hungarian enterprise needs to work 277 hours-a-year just to meet its tax requirements.
Mr. Lázár also stated that 270 new “Government Windows” will be completed by the beginning of May, adding to the current number of 250 already in operation. Government windows currently enable the administration of over 630 issues, riding to one thousand by the end of the year according to plan.
Single window administration at district offices requires a significant, 50 billion forint investment in information technology, the Minister pointed out.