The opposition Socialist Party said it was submitting a draft resolution on the construction of battery plants to parliament’s legislative committee after the sustainable development committee voted against putting it on the agenda. Addressing an online news conference after a meeting of the sustainable development committee, Socialist Party group leader Bertalan Tóth noted that under his party’s proposal, the construction of a battery plant within a 12km area around a settlement would require the consent of residents in a local referendum.
Also, the investor and operator would have to adhere to environmental protection and occupational health and safety regulations, he said. The proposal would also limit the construction of such plants to farmland with a maximum golden crown value of 25, he added. “We won’t stop; we’re going before the legislative committee because we want parliament to at least put the issue on the agenda so that it could be debated,” Tóth said. Balázs Pollreisz, a Socialist councillor in Győr, in north-western Hungary, said it was “outrageous” that the legislative committee had not heard him out. He added, at the same time, that he was certain that the residents of Győr would collect the required number of signatures needed to initiate a referendum on the planned construction of a battery plant there.