“The Government would like to continue the National Consultations and, similarly to this year, will next year again be launching one that lays the foundation for the following budget”, head of the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister Antal Rogán said at his annual hearing before Parliament’s Justice Committee on Thursday.

The Minister said the 2020 budget is also based on the Family Protection Action Plan, which takes into account the people’s opinion.

He said the current budget already includes one trillion forints (EUR 3 billion) in additional funding for families compared to the 2010 budget submitted under the last Gyurcsány government. “The adoption of the Family Protection Action Plan means this sum will be increased by a further 200 billion forints (EUR 618 million) in 2020”, he added.

“The issue of family protection was placed at the centre of focus because parallel to the strengthening of the Hungarian economy we must also face strategic problems such as demographics. There are two possible responses to this in Europe today. One is to support families and encourage an increase in the number of births, and the other is to admit large numbers of immigrants. Hungarian voters have opted for the former, and it is therefore the Government’s duty to support this”, he stated.

With relation to the need for the Economy Protection Action Plan, he said amongst others that the problem isn’t with Hungarian growth, but with the economic environment surrounding Hungary. “The results of the Hungarian economy can only be protected in a responsible manner if there is an Economy Protection Action Plan in place to assure this, which is also included in the budget”, he added.

With relation to the bill on the security of music festivals, he drew attention to the fact that the Government has drawn up the legislation at the request of festival organisers, who believe that security must be increased. “And this requires new, stricter monitoring and identification systems”, he added.

“Hungarian music festivals are extremely popular both at home and internationally; they are successful and high quality, and the Government wants to assure the safety of these events while maintaining strict data protection regulations”, he highlighted.

In reply to questions from the press following the session of the Committee, Mr. Rogán said, amongst others, that there are still two topics with relation to the Family Protection Action Plan with which the Government would like to deal in greater detail.

He said the Government would like to launch a separate programme for treating infertility with a significant level of state funding, adding that the Cabinet is currently examining whether treating infertility can be designated as a state task from a bioethical and other perspectives.

“The other project relating to child protection falls under the sphere of authority of the Prime Minister’s Office, and Minister Gergely Gulyás has promised to complete preparations for the task by the end of September”, Mr. Rogán told reporters.

The Committee accepted the Minister’s annual report with one vote against from Jobbik party representative Andrea Varga-Damm and one abstention from Independent MP Erik Fülöp.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)