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APPENDIX D

 

Background: Hungary’s Parliament 

Current Political Parties with Seats in the Hungarian Parliament

(Since May 1998)

Name of Party

Seats

Alliance of Young Democrats, conservative liberal, FIDESZ-MPP

148

Hungarian Socialist Party, socialist, MSZP

134

Independent Party of Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Citizens, agrarian conservative, FKgP

 

48

Alliance of Free Democrats, liberal, SZDSZ

24

Hungarian Justice and Life Party, nationalist, MIEP

14

Hungarian Democratic Forum, conservative/Christian-democratic, MDF

17

 

Previous Election Results[1] 

Election 1990 (first free election since change of the political system)

Name of Party

Total Number of Mandates

MDF

164

SZDSZ

 92

FKgP

 44

MSZP

 33

FIDESZ

 21

KDNP

 21

Agrarian association

  1

Independent

  6

Common candidate

  4

The government was formed by a MDF / FKgP / KDNP coalition. 

Election 1994

Name of Party

Total Number of Mandates

MSZP

209

SZDSZ

 69

MDF

 38

FKgP

 26

KDNP

 22

FIDESZ

 20

Agrarian association

   1

Common candidate

   1

The government was formed by a MSZP / SZDSZ coalition.


 

APPENDIX E

 

Names of FIDESZ Parliamentary Committee Members 

1.  Budgetary and Finance Committee

Mádi, László, Vice Chairman
Arnóth, Sándor, Member
Babák, Mihály, Member
Balsay, István László, Member
Dr. Hargitai, János, Member
Dr. Kerényi, János, Member
Lenártek, András, Member
Rákos, Tibor, Member
Rogán, Antal, Member
Dr. Rubovszky, György, Member
Tállai, András, Member
 

1.a. Sub-Committee for European Integration Affairs

Mádi, László, Vice Chairman
Lenártek, András, Member

Tállai, András, Member

2.  Economics Committee

Dr. Latorcai, János, Chairman  
Balla, György, Member  
Domokos, László, Member  
Dr. Horváth, János, Member  

Ivanics, István,
Member    
Lázár, Mózes,
Member  
Márton, Attila, Member  
Nógrádi, László, Member  

Rigler, Zoltán,
Member 
Várkonyi, András, Member
Végh, László, Member

 

2.a. Sub-Committee for the Implementation of Legislation and the Monitoring of its Social and Economic Impact

Ivanics, István, Chairman
Dr. Horváth, János, Member  
Nógrádi, László, Member  
Várkonyi, András, Member  
Végh, László, Member
 

2.b. Sub-Committee for European Integration

Dr. Horváth, János, Chairman  
Várkonyi, András, Member  

  

3. Constitutional and Justice Committee

Dr. Rubovszky, György, Vice Chairman  
Dr. Szakács, Imre, Vice Chairman  

Dr. Répássy, Róbert, Vice Chairman  
Dr. Dorkota, Lajos, Member  
Dr. Gyimesi, József, Member  

Dr. Helmeczy, László, Member  

Dr. Juharos, Róbert, Member  
Dr. Koczka, Csaba, Member    
Kozma, Péter, Member   
Dr. Mátrai, Márta, Member 
  
Dr. Mikes, Éva, Member  
Dr. Salamon, László, Member  
Dr. Szabó, Erika, Member  
Dr. Répássy, Róbert, Member  
Várkonyi, András, Member  
Dr. Vitányi, István József, Member

3.a. Sub-Committee for European Integration

Dr. Vitányi, István József, Chairman

4.  Agricultural Committee

Farkas, Sándor, Chairman  
Bebes, István, Vice Chairman  
Czerván, György, Member  
Dr. Györkös, Péter, Member  
Járvás, István, Member  
Dr. Pap, János, Member
 
Dr. Szabó, József Andor, Member  
Szabó, Ferenc, Member  
Tóth, András, Member
 

4.a. Sub-Committee for EU Accession and Foreign Trade

Glattfelder, Béla, Chairman  
Bebes, István, Member  
Dr. Szabó, József Andor, Member



APPENDIX F

  Official Public Relations Strategy

 

In April 1995, the Inter-Ministerial Committee for European Integration approved a governmental campaign to prepare the public for European Union accession. The campaign design was based on survey results that mapped Hungarian public attitudes towards and general knowledge of EU accession.  

The campaign started in January 1996 and has been funded from two sources: the central budget and EU PHARE. (The Hungarian government provided HUF 214.1 million in 1999; PHARE provided ECU 794,000 in 1997 and 1998.) The main aim of the campaign is to achieve the popular support necessary to pass a referendum on EU accession. (The referendum will be held after accession negotiations are completed.)   

The campaign is divided into three phases.  The first, informational phase lasted until the beginning of the negotiations and aimed to provide general knowledge of and arouse public interest in the EU.  The second phase is designed to help people develop informed opinions on accession.  The final phase, which will start at the conclusion of negotiations, aims to mobilize people to vote “yes” in the accession referendum. 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs oversees the campaign. The EU Political Relations Division within the Ministry is responsible for its coordination (planning, legal and financial management, supervision, and evaluation).  The Ministry supports concrete ideas and not institutions or organizations.  Proposals must fulfill two distinct criteria.  First, they have to target a defined population segment—the general public, rural society, youth, the teaching community, journalists, entrepreneurs, etc.  Second, they must possess highly informative content regarding the EU.  

 

Realization of the Campaign 

·        The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has published 17 thematic brochures covering topics of great importance to the EU and/or Hungary.[2]  It has also provided funding for several other publications. 

·        The Ministry has established cooperative relations with the representatives of regional and countrywide press outlets and has sent EU attachments for interviews with a number of newspapers.

·        The Ministry has also established cooperative relations with many representatives of the electronic media, including Hungarian National Radio, Hungarian National Television, and Duna TV.[3]

·        The Ministry participates regularly in fairs and expositions with its own “Europe Booths.”

·        During 1999, nearly 100 informational events were held all over the country.  The Ministry has put emphasis on regional information distribution. “Europe-Days”[4] organized by non-governmental organizations have been held throughout the country. European Information Centers have also been established regionally.  


APPENDIX G

 

Land Privatization Results

 

Farm Types Before Privatization

Large scale farms

·        121 state farms accounted for about 14 percent of all farmland and 15 percent of agricultural output.

·        1,200 co-operatives accounted for about 80 percent of farmland and 50 percent of output.

 

Individual small plots

·        “Auxiliary” private farms (mostly part-time operations) accounted for 6 percent of farmland and 35 percent of output.

Household farms and state farms/co-operatives maintained highly integrated production relations.

  

Farm Types After Privatization

 As a result of privatization, 5.1 million hectares of land have been allocated to former collective members or privatized through auctions, and 2.2 million land titles have been distributed.

·        The main types of farms now are corporations, co-operatives, and private (individual) farms, with private farms accounting for over half (approximately 57 percent) of total agricultural output.

·        As compensation for past expropriations, 2.5 million hectares of land were divided among 600,000 individuals (an average of 4.2 hectares per person).  Many of these individuals do not work in agriculture.

·        As a result of the first phase of collective farm reorganization, which was completed in 1995, 2.1 million hectares of former collective farm land were divided among 1.3 million people (an average of 1.6 hectares per person). Of the initial assets, 41.4 percent was given to active collective members, 38.7 percent to previous owners, and 14.4 percent to former members. Only about 15 percent of collective members left the collectives, one-third of which created smaller co-operatives or partnerships.  New co-operatives are still in the process of establishing themselves.

·        Half a million hectares of state-owned land were divided among 300,000 collective workers and state employees that did not formerly own land (an average of 1.7 hectares per person).  The initial phase of state farm privatization was completed in 1996 when only 28 out of the initial 121 farms (just two percent of farmland) remained in majority state ownership.

 

Characteristics of Privatized Land 

As a result of privatization, there are 1.5 million landowners in Hungary who, on average, own less than five hectares apiece. Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture data indicate that 11 percent of total arable land is in plots of less than one hectare each.  Fifty-two percent of total farmland is made up of plots of less than 10 hectares.[5]  (In the European Union, farms of five hectares or less account for just six percent of farmland. Those under 10 hectares constitute just 12 percent.) 

Not only are plot sizes small, but a single owner’s land may be dispersed over several locations as a result of the compensation process. While 70 percent of newly privatized land remains collectively cultivated, efficient production is impossible on plots that are too small in size and where capital is lacking. As noted in a June 1998 Commission Report,[6] “a new category of full-time commercial private farms” has emerged in Hungary and these farms—which are approximately 10 hectares in size—are likely to face difficulties in the near future “due to their limited investment capacity and the shortcomings of the rural infrastructure.”



Footnotes

[1] Source:  Distribution According to Parties of Mandates received in 1990 and 1994. Ministry of Interior.  www.election.hu/v98stata/1990pmand.htm and www.election.hu/v98stata/1994pmand.htm

[2] They cover areas such as the CAP; Hungarian agriculture and the EU; consumer protection within the EU; travel within the EU; the EU in brief, etc.

[3] A satellite TV channel that broadcasts in Hungarian.

[4] Europe Days are a result of cooperation between the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Budapest Delegation of the European Commission.  The main aim of these events is to make the public aware of what it will mean for Hungary to become an EU member.

[5] Módosítandó földtörvény, Világgazdaság Európai Unió Melléklet, 03.24.1999., www.vilaggazdasag.hu/melleklet/eu/19990324/modosit.htm

[6] Commission of the European Communities, DG VI-Agriculture Working Document  “Agricultural Situation and Prospects in the Central European Countries (1998 update), Hungary, June 1998.”

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