Balázs Molnár, Deputy State Secretary for EU Affairs at the Prime Minister’s Office hosted David Brozina, Director-General for EU Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia at a working lunch in Budapest on 15 February 2018.

During the meeting the parties discussed, among others, issues such as European migration policy, the multiannual financial framework beyond 2020, the indexing of family benefits and the application of the Posted Workers Directive to the transport sector.

At the meeting the Director-General said the EU budget for the period beyond 2020 will have to concentrate more on the management of the new challenges that Europe is facing. In his view, upon the distribution of funds the Member States which undertake to play a role in the alleviation of the pressure of migration will have to be taken into consideration more emphatically. David Brozina presented the alternative Slovenian proposal relating to the reform of the Dublin system. Slovenia takes the view that the allocation system must not become a part of the Dublin system in the future. Solidarity can manifest itself not only in the relocation of asylum-seekers eligible for international protection, and the reform of the Common European Asylum System should concentrate more on providing practical assistance.

Mr Molnár pointed out that Hungary was among the first to prove its solidarity with Europe when it sealed the Western Balkans migration route. The creation of a system that is based on the protection of the external borders, instead of an allocation-based asylum system, would contribute far more to the long-term management of the migration crisis. He added that cohesion policy was created with a view to the attainment of the goals laid down in the Treaties. Cohesion funds cannot be regarded as a gift as the more advanced Western European Member States enjoy the benefits of the single market just as much as the net beneficiary Central and Eastern European region. Mr Molnár said regarding migration that there will be no progress in the reform process of the Common European Asylum System as long as the mandatory relocation scheme forms part of it.

In the context of the discriminatory reduction (indexing) of the amounts of family benefits payable in relation to the children of parents working in Austria, which the Austrian government is planning to introduce effective as of 1 January 2019 with a view to adjusting them to the living standards of the Member States in which such children actually reside, the Deputy State Secretary said that this would have an extremely detrimental effect on Hungarian workers and is absolutely contrary to EU law. He highlighted that – also thanks to the European Commission’s firm resistance – they have so far succeeded in foiling the attempts of Member States which have sought to regulate this issue on an EU level for a long time. The Slovenian Director-General agreed with the Hungarian position; he indicated at the same time that they do not wish to enter into a bilateral conflict with Austria on this issue.

Deputy State Secretary Balázs Molnár outlined the Hungarian position regarding the proposal currently under negotiation which seeks to lay down special rules in the context of the application of the Posted Workers Directive to the transport sector as part of the so-called Mobility Package. He stressed that the transport sector accounts for 6.5% of the Hungarian GDP, and therefore the protection of Hungarian businesses is a particular priority. The Director-General appreciated the significance of this issue, but indicated that Slovenia does not treat the debate on the status of hauliers as a priority.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade/MTI)