Hungary - Political Criteria

Short-term priorities:

• implementation of the medium-term Roma action programme, in particular provision of the necessary financial aid, implementation of measures to combat discrimination (especially in the police) and improved access to employment and education.

Assessment (November 2000)

Actions have been launched to improve the situation of the Roma minority, particularly in the areas of culture, education, housing, employment, health and anti-discrimination measures. The number of Roma police officers has been increased. Cooperation with Roma organisations has been stepped up. A total of 19 million was made available for this priority.

Assessment (November 2001)

No progress has been made in this area.

Assessment (October 2002)

Measures have been taken to continue with the judicial reform, such as the provisions to reduce the backlog of cases at the Supreme Court and others to modernise the judiciary. The Court Information System has progressed. Around 75% of judges have received training in Community law. A number of measures have been implemented as part of the anti-corruption strategy. Additional budgetary resources have been allocated to the implementation of the Roma action plan. New teaching material has been prepared but the problem of transferring Roma children out of the mainstream system into special education facilities has not been resolved.

Assessment (November 2003)

Please refer to the fact sheets on the adoption of the Community acquis.

Medium-term priorities

• further efforts to improve the integration of the Roma.

Assessment (October 1999)

Hungary made further efforts to improve the situation of the Roma by adopting a revised medium-term Roma action programme. The programme puts particular emphasis on education and employment and provides for social, health and housing measures. Despite the steps taken, the situation of the Roma remains difficult and continued attention must be paid to the full enforcement of the new programme at the regional and local levels.

Assessment (November 2000)

No progress has been made in this field.

Assessment (November 2001)

The Hungarian Government has increased the budget resources allocated to the programme. However, the extent of the social problems faced by the Roma requires even greater funding. Moreover, the programme is criticised for a lack of provisions for assessing the results obtained in the target groups. The Commission highlights, in particular, the situation in the field of education, where the young Roma need a great deal of support as a result of the unfavourable social conditions to which they are subjected. Hungary has to a large extent harmonised its policy on combating discrimination with the acquis, which is an important step in the process of integrating the Roma in the long term.

Assessment (October 2002)

As part of the fight against discrimination, a network of legal aid offices has been set up. It offers free counsel and representation to individuals claiming discrimination. However, the scope of the operation of this network is rather restricted and the costs of legal proceedings are not covered. A new anti-discrimination law has been drawn up and its adoption would be a major step forward. No progress can be reported as regards the establishment of an effective system for addressing complaints about police misconduct.

Assessment (November 2003)

Please refer to the fact sheets on the adoption of the Community acquis.

Following the signing of the Accession Treaty on 16 April 2003, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia acceded to the European Union on 1 May 2004.

REFERENCES

Decision 99/850/EC of 6.12.1999Official Journal L 335 of 28.12.1999

Commission opinion COM(97) 2001 finalNot published in the Official Journal

Commission report COM(98) 700 finalNot published in the Official Journal

Commission report COM(1999) 505 finalNot published in the Official Journal

Commission report COM(2000) 705 finalNot published in the Official Journal

Commission report COM(2001)700 final - SEC(2001) 1748Not published in the Official Journal

Commission Report COM(2002)700 final - SEC(2002)1404Not published in the Official Journal

Commission Report COM(2003) 675 final - SEC(2003) 1205Not published in the Official Journal

Treaty of Accession to the European Union [Official Journal L 236, 23.09.2003]

Last updated: 19.11.2004