Témakör 11 1
Téma 5
Hungary and the EU
Accession in progress
Hungary concluded an Association Agreement with the European Communities in December 1991,
which has been in force since 1 February 1994. The Agreement covers trade-related issues, political
dialogue, legal approximation and other areas of co-operation, including industry, environment,
transport and customs and aims at progressively establishing a free-trade area between the EU and
Hungary. In March 1994, Hungary was the first country of the region to formally apply for EU
membership. At the Luxembourg European Council in December 1997 it was finally decided to
launch the accession negotiations with six of the applicant countries, among them Hungary.
The negotiations with Hungary were launched on 30 March 1998. Since then, Hungary has
participated in eight meetings of the Accession Conference at ministerial level. A so-called Regular
Report on the progress of each of the candidate countries on the way towards accession is published
every autumn. In these reports, the Commission services identify the remaining shortcomings and
tasks to be carried out prior to accession to meet the political, economic and legal "Copenhagen
criteria" for accession, with particular emphasis on enforcement and institutional capacity. On the
basis of the Regular Reports, Accession Partnerships are drawn up, which outline the most
important short- and medium term priorities that have to be tackled by the respective candidate
country in the near future.
In December 2000, the European Council in Nice endorsed a "roadmap" for the completion of the
negotiations, including a calendar for dealing with all topics (so-called "chapters") over three
Presidencies from the beginning of 2001 to mid-2002.
This would enable the fulfilment of the European Council’s determination (stated at Laeken in
December 2001) to bring the accession negotiations with the candidate countries that are ready to a
successful conclusion by the end of 2002, so that those countries can take part in the European
Parliament elections in 2004 as members following ratification of the accession treaty by the
European Parliament and the Parliaments of the 15 Member States and of the candidate country.
The European Council agreed with the report of the Commission, which considers that, if the
present rate of progress of the negotiations and reforms in the candidate States is maintained,
Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic, the Czech
Republic and Slovenia could be ready.
The negotiating process is accompanied by regular meetings of a number of bodies under the
Europe Agreement, such as the Association Council and the Association Committee , the EP-
Hungary Joint Parliamentary Committee. These forums provide the occasion to review progress in
Hungary’s preparations for accession, notably in the light of the Accession Partnership priorities,
and in bilateral relations under the Europe Agreement. In addition, a system of sub-committees has
been established as a forum for technical discussions.
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Témakör 11 2
Téma 5
Pre-Accession Assistance
From 2000 onwards, the EU foresees a combined total of around € 220 million of Pre-accession
assistance to Hungary on an annual basis from the three EU instruments.
The PHARE programme that has been providing support to the countries of Central and Eastern
Europe since 1989 allocated to Hungary € 1 030 million during the period 1992 to 1999, € 119.8
million in 2000 and € 108,8 million in 2001. In 2002 Hungary will be entitled to € 120.7 million.
This figure includes the additional Institution Building allocation (€ 24,7 million) in support of the
Action Plan for Administrative and Judicial Capacity. 1999 Funds were fully contracted by the end
of September 2001. 2002 programming is advancing well and approximately € 38 million of
Institution Building projects are ready for approval in February 2002.
Hungary received € 88 million from ISPA (Instrument for structural policies for pre-accession) in
2000 and € 90.8 million in 2001. The support was roughly divided in equal terms for environment
and transport projects. During the first two years of its operation 100% of the ISPA allocation has
been committed.
The Hungarian SAPARD programme (Special Accession Programme for Agricultural and Rural
Development) was adopted by the Commission in October 2000. It foresees the improvement of the
competitiveness of the agricultural sector and processing industry focusing on environmental
protection and seeks to enhance the adaptation capabilities of rural areas. The average annual public
expenditure will amount to € 50.5 during the period 2000-2006, of which € 38.7 million will be the
EU-contribution.
