Challenges and responses

“The arrival of refugees on the coasts of southern Europe is a European problem. But now we’ll have to see how member states conduct themselves”, says Eniko Gyori, Hungary’s Secretary of State for European Affairs, and one of the most authoritative voices in the rotating Presidency of the EU (now held by Hungary). Born in Budapest in 1968, he has an intensive diplomatic and political career behind him. Elected to the European Parliament in 2009, he resigned his post as MEP in the following year to form part of the government headed by Viktor Orban. He comments on the current situation in the EU in this interview with Gianni Borsa, on behalf of SIR Europe.When Hungary assumed the six months’ presidency of the EU on 1st January, you presented a wide-ranging programme with precise priorities: economy, enlargement, common strategy for the Roma… Then a series of grave emergencies suddenly erupted: the events in North Africa, and the tragedy in Japan with the threat of a nuclear disaster. So you’ve had to “change your route”. How in your view has the EU reacted so far in response to the events in North Africa?“I think that on the whole Europe has been able to react to the challenges posed by what’s happening. First of all we evacuated EU citizens; then we brought the first humanitarian aid to the frontiers between Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. I myself visited the frontier with Tunisia and was able to observe the huge exodus of displaced persons. The same was seen by Janos Martoni [Hungarian Foreign Minister] on the frontier between Libya and Egypt. In these areas there’s a great humanitarian emergency we cannot ignore. We then reinforced the activities and presence of Frontex”.What lessons can be learned by the EU as a whole?“The migratory emergency posed by the events taking place in North Africa prompts the EU to completely rethink its migration policy. At the same time we need to clarify the criteria for the recognition of those seeking asylum. And together we must look beyond the emergency and help these countries to build a basis for democracy and prosperity, and the protection of human rights, to avoid a situation in future in which people are forced to flee from their own country”.You have devoted a lot of attention over the last few months to economic governance and financial stability. With what results?“The six legislative proposals on this question, on which we rapidly found an overall consensus within the European Council, can be considered a success of this Presidency. I hope a definitive result will be reached by the end of our six months’ presidency, in such a way as to prepare a global response to the economic crisis, also in order to send a reassuring message to the markets. The ‘European semester’ (coordination of economic policies, multilateral surveillance of national budgets) is also proceeding well; it will return to the order of the day at the European Council in June and it’s now up to member states to define national programmes of reform at the economic and financial level. At the same time the euro plus pact and the permanent mechanism of financial stability now form part of the range of EU instruments prepared for a global response to the crisis and are intended to prevent future risks. But proper measures to generate and sustain growth and employment, in the framework of the Europe 2020 strategy, are also needed”.What’s your view of the Commission’s proposal for a European strategy on the Roma? The Hungarian government has spent a lot of effort on this issue…“I would say that no European country can say it is untouched by this issue and so in this case too a collective action of all member countries of the Union is needed. We in Hungary, for example, have some 700,000 Roma out of a total population of 10 million inhabitants. It’s a high percentage, but with us the Roma are almost all sedentary, even if many of them still live in conditions of poverty and marginality. We must tackle the problem not only at the level of anti-discrimination, but also by providing this part of the population with opportunities for work, healthcare, education and decent housing. Only thus shall we foster the presence of Roma in Europe and overcome every form of social exclusion from which they still suffer”.Eastern Europe and Western Europe: how far has integration reached?“I think important steps have been taken to bring the old and new member states of the EU closer together, even if a lot still remains to be done. 2011 is an important year in this sense: the semester of the Hungarian presidency will be followed by that of Poland. For us it’s an opportunity to demonstrate we are able to work for the European common interest, and also to experience the principle of solidarity that lies at the basis of the Union”.Your government has recently introduced a “Family Week” at the European level: why?“Because it is on the family that demographic issues – e.g. the ageing of the population -, as well as fundamental social and relational problems depend. Of course, family policies remain a national competence, but the Union too can work to support families, for example by facilitating the reconciliation between work and domestic life. Member states also need to conduct a real policy in support of natalities. Also for this reason we support the proposal to call 2014 European Year of the Family”.