On Wednesday in Vienna Minister of State for EU Affairs at the Prime Minister’s Office had talks concerning, inter alia, the Western Balkans and migration, but he also raised the issue of the family allowance changes which affect Hungarian workers detrimentally.

Szabolcs Takács told the Hungarian news agency MTI by telephone that his chief negotiating partner was Gernot Blümel, Minister for the EU, Culture, Arts and Media. The meeting was especially important in the context of the principal issues concerning the EU in light of the fact that Austria will take over the Presidency of the European Union from 1 July.

In Vienna Mr Takács stressed the Balkans countries, and in particular, Serbia and Montenegro, should be given a prospect of accession also enriched with specifics at the EU summit to be held in May in Sofia, during the Bulgarian Presidency. It is important that the region should be stable both from a security policy and economic point of view, the Minister of State said. He added that he shared with his Austrian negotiating partners the content of the Prime Minister’s proposal which Hungary handed over to the Bulgarian EU Presidency regarding possible versions for the long-term management of the migration crisis.

Mr Takács asked Vienna to take Hungary’s special situation into consideration; namely that it is a border state of the Schengen Area, and therefore its responsibility is enormous. He told his partners that Hungary fulfils its duties laid down in the Schengen Borders Code, controls its borders, and by doing so it protects the entire area. At the same time, the Minister of State stressed that Budapest is unable to accept the reinstatement of border controls within the Schengen Area on a long-term basis, and asked the Austrian party to consider its position. He added that the Austrian position is similar to the Hungarian in many respects inasmuch as it also lays the emphasis on the protection of the external borders.

Regarding EU funds, he pointed out the mixing up of funds targeting cohesion with political issues such as the debate on the migration quotas on which there is no agreement within the EU is unacceptable.

The Minister of State argued at the meeting that upon the preparation of the next EU budget the parties should first agree on the main new challenges and main traditional duties, such as the management of the migration crisis, border protection, the reinforcement of the EU’s defence capabilities, preparations for the requirements of the digital era and the continuation of the common agricultural policy, and a decision on the allocation of funds should only be made thereafter. There is no room for mixing in subjective elements because that may have a divisive effect.

Mr Takács said Hungary will take the Austrian-Hungarian family allowance dispute to EU forums, and asked Vienna to take the principle of equal treatment and the prohibition of discrimination into consideration as the Hungarians working in Austria pay their social security contributions there, and they are therefore entitled to the same benefits also in respect of family allowance services as Austrian workers.

The parties also discussed the regulatory reform of the transport sector; more specifically the fact that, according to the Hungarian position, the commercial transport of goods qualifies as mobile employment which cannot be governed by the provisions of the Posted Workers Directive.

(MTI)