Krisztina Than
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – The Hungarian government submitted a second batch of anti-corruption bills to the country’s parliament on Friday, as Budapest stepped up efforts to avoid losing important Europeans that could be Union funds that harm their currency and economy.
The EU executive on Sunday recommended a moratorium on funding worth 7.5 billion euros, as it sees Hungary failing to fight corruption and uphold the rule of law.
Budapest committed to drafting all legislation agreed with Brussels after lengthy negotiations. Hungary’s forint currency and Hungarian bonds have sold off in recent weeks amid fears that Budapest will lose billions of euros in EU funds.
Monday’s first draft bill strengthens Hungary’s cooperation with the EU Anti-Fraud Office OLAF, ensures that OLAF has the support of Hungarian tax officials when investigating EU-funded projects, and boosts state-owned asset management funds Transparency in how it works.
On Friday, Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga presented a series of further measures, including a bill to create an agency called INT that would be able to intervene when local officials fail to intervene Intervention in suspected fraud cases, conflicts of interest or other misconduct involving EU funds.
The bill will also create an anti-corruption task force composed of government and non-government representatives tasked with improving Hungary’s anti-fraud framework.
“The Hungarian government is committed to full implementation due to constructive and close cooperation with the European Commission,” Varga said in the reasoning attached to the bill.
The Hungarian case is the first in the EU to be subject to corruption by a bloc of countries aimed at better protecting the rule of law and combating 27.
Faced with rising energy costs, a weak forint and the prospect of a recession next year, Prime Minister Viktor Orban on some of his issues The EU, which has long had divided policies, now looks willing to meet EU demands to create institutions that can reduce the risk of corruption in EU-funded projects.
Earlier on Friday, Finance Minister Mihari Varga said that the Hungarian economy is heading for “difficult times” due to soaring inflation and rising energy costs, which means 2023 The budget will have to be reworked.
