We, Hungarian economists, join the Board of the Association of Polish Economists in asserting that vetoing the new EU budget is harmful and is based on false pretenses.

The Hungarian and Polish governments are using their threat of veto to blackmail other European countries and to create a situation whereby the institutions of the European Union cannot in the future effectively monitor the rule of law and functioning of basic institutions in member states. European institutions would also be unable to monitor the orderly and lawful utilization of funds received from the budget.

Like our Polish colleagues, we are convinced that the attitude of the two governments goes against European cohesion policy, harming at the same time the citizens of both countries. The Hungarian government’s attacks against accountability regarding the observance of the rule of law undermines European solidarity, so essential in overcoming the present crisis. It also aims to preserve a system without meaningful barriers against systematic violations of the standards of fair competition and institutional corruption. The long-term costs of maintaining such a system are even more severe than the loss due to limiting the access of Hungarians and Poles to European funds.

Péter Bihari, Péter Ákos Bod, Attila Chikán, Mária Csanádi, Péter Felcsuti, Dóra Győrffy, Júlia Király, Mihály Laki, Tamás Mellár, Zoltán Nagy, Gábor Oblath, Éva Palócz, Mária Zita Petschnig, Dániel Prinz, Werner Riecke, Ágota Scharle, András Vértes

Our statement was also signed by:

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