Perhaps the most significant week of Hungarian diplomacy has come to a close. For the past two days, the whole of Europe has convened in Budapest, first for the European Political Community (EPC) summit on Thursday, followed by the informal European Council on Friday. The latter focused on promoting European competitiveness.

At the press conference after the meeting, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán began his statement by condemning Thursday’s anti-Semitic riots in Amsterdam on behalf of Hungary. ‘You are now in a city where perhaps the largest synagogue in Europe and the largest Catholic cathedral are within a stone's throw of each other,’ he said, as reported by Index.

The prime minister then announced that the leaders had agreed to adopt the Budapest Declaration, which will focus on enhancing competitiveness in the coming years.

EU growth has consistently lagged behind that of China and the US over the past two decades. Productivity growth has been slower, the EU’s share of world trade has declined, and EU companies pay three times higher electricity prices than those in the US, as well as four times the price of natural gas. ‘The Budapest Declaration states that immediate action is needed,’ PM Orbán emphasized.

Some key points of the Budapest Declaration include:

• A revolution in the simplification of administrative burdens;
• A drastic reduction in reporting obligations by the end of the first half of 2025;
• Measures aimed at lowering high energy prices;
• The establishment of a European industrial policy;
• A commitment to allocate 3 per cent of European GDP to research and development by 2030;
• The establishment of a capital markets union;
• The creation of a European defence industrial base.

Over the next five years, competitiveness will be the primary focus, and a competitiveness test will be conducted for each new legislative proposal to assess its impact on competitiveness. This topic will be regularly revisited during Council meetings.

PM Orbán expressed optimism at the end of the meeting, stating that no one wishes to manage decline; rather, everyone wants to make Europe great again, now that the Americans have decided to make America great.

Orbán also stated that it is up to the leaders to achieve their objectives. ‘Everyone kept saying that Hungary was isolated, but the end result is that we are standing here now; we had good cooperation, we held a successful summit, and we have adopted the competitiveness agreement,’ the prime minister remarked. Regarding US relations, he mentioned that there would be tough negotiations, noting that Trump would certainly have ideas on how trade should be developed in line with US interests. However, he expressed confidence that in the end, an agreement would be reached: ‘If we are good enough, we can conclude a beneficial agreement.’

The prime minister also stated that the Hungarian EU Presidency is far from over, indicating that there will be more surprises in the period ahead.

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