“At its session on Wednesday, the Cabinet discussed the constitutional amendment that will protect the country’s national and constitutional identity, the final version of which will be put before the National Assembly on Monday”, the Minister of Justice said at his press conference on 5 October 2016.
László Trócsányi explained: “The change will set down a framework that includes our constitutional identity, which covers territory, people and population, as well as state structure and form of government”. The Minister also stressed: “The proposed change will be a euro-conform one, because the Government regards our membership of the European Union as important”. “In addition, our Fundamental Law must also provide solutions to the challenges of the era”, he added.
In the recess of the Cabinet meeting, Mr. Trócsányi also told reporters: “The initiative was preceded by suitable preparation, during the course of which the practices of other Member States were also taken into account”. As an example, the Justice Minister cited decisions by the Constitutional Courts of France and Germany, which set down that EU law must bow before Member State constitutions.
Mr. Trócsányi also declared that the EU treaties and our constitution must be in harmony, because “we are members of a community of values and committed Europeans”.
“The EU Accession Treaty in no way stipulates its own priority”, but a court decision has already declared that, he added. The Justice Minister said that in his opinion this dispute is also the reason why attempts to introduce a European constitutional treaty failed in France and Holland, because citizens did not want to lay down the fact that the EU constitution should stand above Member State constitutions.
Mr. Trócsányi also referred to Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union, according to which “The Union shall respect the equality of Member States before the Treaties as well as their national identities, inherent in their fundamental structures, political and constitutional”.
Mr. Trócsányi admitted that although the result of the referendum does not bind the National Assembly, from a political perspective the 3 million 300 thousand No votes leads the governing parties to draw up a proposal that reflects the fact.
Minister of State for Government Communication Bence Tuzson told reporters: “The vast majority of the participants of the referendum have made a decision that goes beyond political parties and this community, a new unity for Hungary, feels it is important to stand up for themselves, for their children and for the future of the nation. As such, they have created an obligation for the Government and for the Hungarian community, and this is why the Cabinet has decided on the constitutional amendment”.
In reply to a question concerning the details of the abovementioned constitutional framework, the Justice Minister said: The Constitution cannot be a detailing, technical-level norm; the framework must include an “intellectual and spiritual” message, and the Constitutional Court plays an important role in the interpretation of that message.
In reply to a question concerning whether in certain cases the EU Treaty provides the European Commission or other community bodies the right to introduce temporary measures that might also overrule the Fundamental Law, the Minister declared: “Relocation is not a temporary measure, but something permanent; until now temporary measures have only lasted a maximum of six months.” “Hungary’s lawsuit against the quotas also covers this issue”, he added.
“Hungary is warding off the sending back of the 1294 people originally determined for the country by not readmitting those involved”, Mr. Tuzson declared in reply to a question. Mr. Trócsányi added to this, stating: “Only 5800 out of the 160 thousand people have been successfully placed during the course of a full year, which indicates that this solution is not a good one”.
(MTI, Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister)
