Csaba Sógor spoke about the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU in the political science students’ summer camp at Râmetea
The Association of Political Science Students from Cluj held its tenth annual summer camp between June 30th and July 3rd at Râmetea. The opening presentation of the camp was held by MEP Csaba Sógor.
In his presentation, DAHR’s MEP spoke about the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union that ended on the 30th of June. Csaba Sógor presented the results of the last six months and the Brussels opinions about the Hungarian presidency. The Hungarian MEP from Transylvania believes that the Hungarian presidency successfully fulfilled its goals and coordinated the 27 member states while managing to adopt the EU’s first strategy on the Roma minority and the Danube strategy that is very important to the countries in Central Europe, as well as setting the date of Croatia’s accession to the EU and bringing the reform of economic governance within arms reach.
Besides evaluating the official results, Csaba Sógor also reminded that the presidency faced three important crises as well. The „Arab spring”, the catastrophe at Fukushima and the economic crisis urged the EU to discuss the situation of the Muslim world, atomic safety and economic processes in depth. Answering a question about the motto of the presidency, “Strong Europe”, the MEP stated that Europe has truly become stronger through the more severe regulation on atomic energy and the foreseeable unification of the energetic markets in 2014, as well as the continuing extension of the number of member states, since it brings the hope that some day all countries that have Hungarian minorities will be members of the EU.
Sógor also showed that the differences between the political culture in Brussels and at home became obvious during the course of the presidency. Brussels acknowledged the achievements of the Hungarian presidency even though Viktor Orbán’s strong stance was unusual for some older member states. The main task of the Hungarian presidency was to reach consensuses, to create conditions for the co-decision procedure. The Hungarian MEP from Transylvania feels that this is a value that internal political debates should adhere to as well.
The four day event continues with professional presentations and debates, as well as a confrontation between DAHR’s Secretary General, Péter Kovács and Balázs Gergely, member of the provisory presidency of the Transylvanian Hungarian People’s Party.
