Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the European Union is off to a „flying start”, the EU affairs minister said on Thursday, noting that Hungary has already organised multiple events this month that had attracted the interest of the entire bloc. The first week of the Hungarian presidency saw a meeting of EU ministers in charge of competitiveness to discuss the possibility of a new competitiveness pact, János Bóka told commercial broadcaster TV2. The meeting also touched on the role of artificial intelligence and support for electric vehicles, he added. „Everything has gone as planned in these first few days, and we’re looking forward to a very interesting and busy presidency,” Bóka said. He noted that competitiveness is the primary focus of Hungary’s presidency, adding that strengthening security and defence policy, the fight against illegal migration, EU enlargement, agricultural and cohesion policy will also be given attention.
The central event of the presidency will be the informal European Council summit held in Budapest on Nov 8, where EU leaders will adopt a competitiveness pact highlighting the areas in which the bloc will have to „make efforts” over the next five years, he said. These, Bóka said, include breaking down internal barriers, strengthening infrastructure and energy relations, completing the financial and capital market union and alleviating the labour shortage. Bóka said the Hungarian government considered the last five years to have been „unsuccessful” in terms of the bloc’s functioning, adding that the outcome of last month’s European parliamentary elections showed that the majority of Europeans wanted change. „The Hungarian presidency also has a political responsibility … to keep the hope for this change alive and represent the voice of change in the institutions,” Bóka said.