In view of the fact that the European Commission launched the Rule of Law Conditionality Mechanism against Hungary on 27 April 2022 and proposed the suspension of part of the country’s funding to the European Council on 18 September, the Hungarian Government submitted a number of bills – so-called corrective measures – to parliament in the context of monitoring the use of EU budgetary resources.  

The Hungarian Government expects the participation and cooperation of non-governmental organisations during the implementation of these measures, particularly in the operation of the Anti-Corruption Task Force. Unfortunately, we did not have the chance to comment on the bills submitted by the government so far, as it has not provided an opportunity for prior professional or social consultation. 

We have consistently protested the government’s anti-NGO measures for years, but we are willing to cooperate in the interest of Hungary’s future, under certain conditions. Summarised below are the conditions under which the Transparency International Hungary Foundation (hereinafter: TI Hungary) could accept to participate in the Anti-Corruption Task Force. 

• A prerequisite for our participation in the Anti-Corruption Task Force is that the adoption of its order of business should be public, or at least occur in a procedure which enables relevant parties to express their views in advance. 
• The Task Force shall operate in the following way: 

• the Chairperson of the Integrity Authority shall be obliged to convene its meetings on the initiative of a pre-defined number of NGO members; 
• it shall have the possibility to initiate the Integrity Authority’s proceeding and ask the Integrity Authority for clarification on individual decisions.  

• TI Hungary reserves the right to address the public, as well as the right to withdraw in the case of serious concerns about the functioning of the Task Force. 

• Should we see a further deterioration in corruption in parallel with the functioning of the Task Force, TI Hungary reserves the right to withdraw from the Task Force.