The Justice Minister takes the view that the Government’s referendum initiative is just and legitimate.
At his press conference held in Budapest on Friday, László Trócsányi said regarding the referendum initiative announced by the Prime Minister on Wednesday that it is just, legitimate and is based on the principle of democracy as it seeks to reach out to the people. The referendum is the single most powerful means, and provides a higher degree of legitimacy than a parliamentary decision, he stressed.
The Minister highlighted: the Constitutional Court concluded earlier that EU law is not international law, but an internal law constituting an autonomous legal system. In other words, the question is not contrary to international law. The Government takes the view that the European Union has not been granted powers to settle people in a country, he said, adding: this is an important issue which concerns sovereignty.
In order to support the conclusion that EU law and international law are not one and the same, he pointed out: Article E of the Fundamental Law regulates its relationship with EU law, while Article Q provides for international law.
Mr Trócsányi pointed out: the Government has a vested interest in a strong European Union which is a union of strong nation states, is built on the equality of the Member States, where European values are upheld to a single standard, and where the four fundamental freedoms and the Schengen Agreement are enforced and protected.
He added: there are theoretical issues, however, such as the issue of sovereignty. The Minister reiterated: the Constitution contained an EU clause already before Hungary’s accession to the EU, in 2002, and the constitutional legislature transposed this upon the passage of the Fundamental Law in 2011.
According to Article E of the Fundamental Law, „With a view to participating in the European Union as a Member State and on the basis of an international treaty, Hungary may, to the extent necessary to exercise the rights and fulfil the obligations deriving from the Founding Treaties, exercise some of its competences set out in the Fundamental Law jointly with other Member States, through the institutions of the European Union”.
The Minister further reiterated that in 2010, in the capacity of constitutional judge, upon a review of the Treaty of Lisbon, he argued in a parallel reasoning that a State joining the EU reserves its sovereignty even in the absence of a separate declaration as this constitutes the foundation stone of the Constitutions of the Member States. The Member States have not resigned the essence of their statehood, sovereignty and independence, or the determination of the foundations of their political systems. The Member States have reserved the right to freely determine the basic principles of their constitutions which are essential for maintaining statehood and constitutional identity.
Regarding the mandatory settling quotas, he said: this is something that the whole of Europe is concerned about. He stressed: the referendum must be separated from the quota lawsuit, before the institution of which the Hungarian Parliament called upon the Government in 2015 to submit its petition on a statutory level. In the quota lawsuit the Government claims that the EU has no sufficient legal grounds for the acceptance of the quotas. He added: he sincerely hopes that a judgement may be passed on the issue before the end of the year.
In the context of the initiation of the referendum, the Minister said that it concerns the future, given that the question continues to remain topical and the pressure of migration is intensifying.
He further pointed out that referenda on EU issues are not infrequent throughout Europe. There have already been such referenda in Ireland, France and the Netherlands, and also in Hungary before its accession.
Concerning the quotas, Mr Trócsányi argued: the EU has exclusive and shared powers. The former include the EU’s customs and trade policies, while the latter extend to the issues of law, freedom and security, in the case of which the Member States did not wish to resign all their decision-making powers. As an example of the latter, he mentioned Article E of the Fundamental Law which defines the transfer of powers as „to the extent necessary”. He added: in the case of the quotas, „we may observe a stealthy withdrawal of powers” on the part of the EU. Mr Trócsányi stressed: it is important to protect the national constitution, and the referendum is aimed at determining how the country should relate to the quotas.
The Minister believes that the question is clear and comprehensible, and the legislator will know what to do in the light of the outcome. In the case of a negative answer, Parliament will have to pass a law regarding the conditions under which it may grant its consent to any obligation to take in migrants. At the same time, in the case of an affirmative answer, Parliament will have to pass a law which will open the way for Hungary to support the alteration of EU law in a way which will permit the delegation of the power to prescribe mandatory settlement quotas to the EU.
In answer to a question, Mr Trócsányi said: if the referendum proves to be unsuccessful, Parliament will not be bound by the outcome of the referendum and will decide within its own competence.
In answer to another question, he said that a „referendum tsunami” began in 2007-2008, and the Constitutional Court therefore opted for the principle of prevention. At the same time, the Minister admitted that some dysfunctions had remained within the legislation. He added: they are awaiting proposals from the National Election Commission.
He described the incident which occurred at the National Election Office as undignified, adding that he does not feel responsible personally.
(MTI, Ministry of Justice)
