Next week’s plenary session of the European Parliament (Strasbourg, 16-19 September) will be hosting two experts that have diametrically opposite views of the future of Europe. On Tuesday 17th September, Mario Draghi will put forward his proposals for competitiveness, the report he presented to the European press in Brussels this week. The presentation at the European Parliament will be followed by a debate with the MEPs. The day after, Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary, will present the priorities of the Hungarian presidency of the Council (until December 2024). The Hungarian government announced that during its six-month presidency its priorities will be: a new European deal on competitiveness; promoting the European defence policy; a consistent and meritocratic enlargement policy; fighting illegal immigration; defining the future of the cohesion policy; a farmer-centric EU agricultural policy; facing the demographic challenges.
The Directorate-General for Communication of the European Parliament pointed out that “during the IX legislature (2019-2024), Parliament repeatedly reported the Hungarian government’s systematic attempts at undermining the values of the EU and the threat it represents for the institutions and funds of the European Union”. “The MEPs also expressed serious concerns about Orbàn government’s ability to reliably play a guiding role within the Council. According to Parliament, the situation has worsened since the enforcement of the so-called procedure in Article 7.1, to such an extent that Hungary can no longer be considered a full democracy”.