1.
Hungary
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Hungary is a unitary parliamentary republic in Central Europe. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken language in Europe. Hungarys capital and largest metropolis is Budapest, a significant economic hub, major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr. His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000, converting the country to a Christian kingdom, by the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world, reaching a golden age by the 15th century. Hungarys current borders were established in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon after World War I, when the country lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, following the interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Hungary became a state of the Soviet Union, which contributed to the establishment of a four-decade-long communist dictatorship. On 23 October 1989, Hungary became again a democratic parliamentary republic, in the 21st century, Hungary is a middle power and has the worlds 57th largest economy by nominal GDP, as well as the 58th largest by PPP, out of 188 countries measured by the IMF. As a substantial actor in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds 36th largest exporter and importer of goods, Hungary is a high-income economy with a very high standard of living. It keeps up a security and universal health care system. Hungary joined the European Union in 2004 and part of the Schengen Area since 2007, Hungary is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the AIIB, the Council of Europe and Visegrád Group. Well known for its cultural history, Hungary has been contributed significantly to arts, music, literature, sports and science. Hungary is the 11th most popular country as a tourist destination in Europe and it is home to the largest thermal water cave system, the second largest thermal lake in the world, the largest lake in Central Europe, and the largest natural grasslands in Europe. The H in the name of Hungary is most likely due to historical associations with the Huns. The rest of the word comes from the Latinized form of Medieval Greek Oungroi, according to an explanation the Greek name was borrowed from Proto-Slavic Ǫgǔri, in turn borrowed from Oghur-Turkic Onogur. Onogur was the name for the tribes who later joined the Bulgar tribal confederacy that ruled the eastern parts of Hungary after the Avars. The Hungarians likely belonged to the Onogur tribal alliance and it is possible they became its ethnic majority. The Hungarian endonym is Magyarország, composed of magyar and ország, the word magyar is taken from the name of one of the seven major semi-nomadic Hungarian tribes, magyeri
2.
Politics of Hungary
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Politics of Hungary takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic. The Prime Minister is the head of government of a pluriform multi-party system, while the President is the head of state, Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the parliament, the party system since the last elections is dominated by the conservative Fidesz. Hungary is an independent, democratic and constitutional state, which has been a member of the European Union since 2004, since 1989 Hungary has been a parliamentary republic. Legislative power is exercised by the unicameral National Assembly that consists of 199 members, members of the National Assembly are elected for four years. If the President dies, resigns or is unable to carry out his duties. Each cabinet nominee appears before one or more parliamentary committees in consultative open hearings, survive a vote by the Parliament, in Communist Hungary, the executive branch of the Peoples Republic of Hungary was represented by the Council of Ministers. The unicameral, 199-member National Assembly is the highest organ of state authority and its members are elected for a four-year term. The election threshold is 5%, but it applies to the multi-seat constituencies. A fifteen-member Constitutional Court has power to challenge legislation on grounds of unconstitutionality and this body was last filled on July 2010. Members are elected for a term of twelve years, the President of the Supreme Court of Hungary and the Hungarian civil and penal legal system he leads is fully independent of the Executive Branch. They have held the authority to legally binding decisions since late 2003. Note, with restructruring and reorganization, this information may change even within a governmental period, Ministers without portfolio, Zsolt Semjén, Tamás Fellegi
3.
Constitution of Hungary
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The Fundamental Law of Hungary, the countrys constitution, was adopted on 18 April 2011, promulgated a week later and entered into force on 1 January 2012. It is Hungarys first constitution adopted within a framework and following free elections. The document succeeded the 1949 Constitution, originally adopted at the creation of the Hungarian Peoples Republic on 20 August 1949, both domestically and abroad, the 2011 constitution has been the subject of controversy. The government that enacted the charter has dismissed such assertions, saying it was enshrined lawfully, the constitution is divided into sections and articles as outlined below. Described as socially and fiscally conservative, the initiates a number of changes. In an effort to push the public debt below 50% of gross domestic product, the President is allowed to dissolve Parliament if a budget is not approved, and only companies with transparent activities and ownership structures are allowed to bid for government contracts. The powers of the head of the Hungarian National Bank are also limited, the life of a fetus is protected from the moment of conception, and although the move is seen as opening the possibility for a future ban or restrictions on abortion, existing laws were unaffected. Same-sex couples may register their partnerships, but marriage is defined as being between one man and one woman. A ban on discrimination does not mention age or sexual orientation, the constitution lowers judges mandatory retirement age from 70 to the general retirement age, which was 62 at the time of adoption and is set to rise to 65 by 2022. The provision also covers prosecutors, while the Prosecutor General and the head of the Curia are exempt, for centuries, the Hungarian constitution was unwritten, based upon customary law. There was no civil code either, lawyers worked with the Corpus Iuris Hungarici, following the advent of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, the Revolutionary Governing Council adopted a Provisional Constitution on 2 April 1919, providing for a Soviet-style political system. On 23 June, the National Assembly of Allied Councils adopted Hungarys first charter-like constitution, however, that regime was crushed two months later and Hungary returned to its historical, unwritten pre-1918 constitution. Despite the lack of a constitution, several constitutional laws were passed during the interwar period of the Kingdom of Hungary. Statute I of 1920 confirmed the monarchical form of government and vested legislative power in a diet, Statute XLVII dethroned the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty. A second chamber was established by Statute XXII of 1926, successive constitutional acts increased the power of the regent, who was empowered to nominate forty senators at first, and during World War II, eighty-seven. Its basic features remained in place until 1989, although a number of important amendments were made, while the constitution guaranteed certain fundamental rights, their scope was limited by provisions stating they had to be exercised in harmony with the interests of the socialist society. In 1989, as the Communist regime crumbled, the legislature approved a constitutional revision that brought in a civil democratic form of government. After the opposition won free elections in 1990, references to democratic socialism, further modifications followed over the ensuing two decades, as successive plans for a new constitution did not reach fulfillment
4.
Hungarian Constitution of 1949
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The Hungarian Constitution of 1949 was adopted on 20 August 1949 and heavily amended on 23 October 1989. The Constitution of Hungary, adopted in 2011, declares the 1949 constitution to be invalid, following the end of World War II and after the country had been occupied by the Soviet Union, democratic elections were held under Statute VIII of 1945. Then, Statute I of 1946, a constitutional statute passed on 31 January, formally ended the thousand-year monarchy. Then in 1949, after the Hungarian Working Peoples Party had assumed undisputed control of the country, the date of its adoption,20 August, made a new national holiday that coincided with the traditional holiday of the feast of Saint Stephen. Now, Hungary became a republic, which was the state of the workers. A Presidential Council elected by parliament was to be head of state, the National Assembly met for some ten days each year, with most rules taking the form of presidential and ministerial decrees. A variety of rights was guaranteed, but only for the working people. Moreover, no means existed of ensuring these rights mandatory nature or of rendering them enforceable, until 1989, the charters basic features remained in effect, although the regime added important amendments in 1950,1953,1954,1972, and 1983. Notably, Act I of 26 April 1972, comprehensively redrafted the constitution, while the social, economic and political order remained the same, fundamental rights were now guaranteed for all citizens. The preamble still paid tribute to the Soviet liberators but took a historical perspective. From 1988 on, as the situation deteriorated and opposition groups emerged. However, time constraints did not allow a new constitution to be written. On 18 October, the National Assembly adopted an amendment to the 1949 Constitution. This reform was the first thoroughgoing constitutional transformation in the Soviet bloc and it was adopted like a normal constitutional amendment, with at least two-thirds of MPs approving, and went into effect on 23 October, the anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The 1989 reform established Hungary as an independent, democratic, constitutional republic that was both democratic and democratic socialist. The economy was to be a market one, with planning employed and public. The people were sovereign, with parties functioning freely, outside the preamble, all references to socialism were carefully deleted. The Constitutional Court, whose members are elected by two-thirds of parliament, can annul laws declared unconstitutional, the parliamentary term was reduced from five to four years
5.
Government of Hungary
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The Government of Hungary exercises executive power in Hungary. It is led by the Prime Minister, and comprises ministers and it is the principal organ of public administration. The Prime Minister elected by the National Assembly and serves as the head of government, the Prime Minister is the leader of the party with the most seats in parliament. The Prime Minister selects Cabinet ministers and has the right to dismiss them. Cabinet nominees must appear before consultative open hearings before one or more parliamentary committees, survive a vote in the National Assembly, the cabinet is responsible to the parliament. Since the fall of communism, Hungary has a multi-party system, the last Hungarian parliamentary election took place on 6 April 2014. This parliamentary election was the 7th since the 1990 first multi-party election, the result was a victory for Fidesz–KDNP alliance, preserving its two-thirds majority with Viktor Orbán remaining Prime Minister. It was the first election according to the new Constitution of Hungary which went into force on 1 January 2012, the new electoral law also entered into force that day. The voters elected 199 MPs instead of previous 386 lawmakers, list of cabinets since 1989, Following the Hungarian parliamentary election,2014, the current prime minister, Viktor Orbán is serving with his government since 6 June 2014. The Minister of Interior of Hungary is a member of the Hungarian cabinet, the current foreign minister is Sándor Pintér. Between 2006 and 2010 the ministry was split into the Ministry of Local Government, in 2010 the prior organization was restored. Ministry of Local Government Ministry of Justice and Law Enforcement The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary is a member of the Hungarian cabinet, the current foreign minister is Péter Szijjártó. The Minister of National Economy of Hungary is a member of the Hungarian cabinet, the current minister of national economy is Mihály Varga
6.
Prime Minister of Hungary
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The Prime Minister of Hungary is the head of government of Hungary, and the most powerful person in Hungarian politics. He or she leads the majority party or coalition in the National Assembly of Hungary, the current Prime Minister is Viktor Orbán, who has served since 29 May 2010. The title of Hungarys head of government in Hungarian is miniszterelnök, if there is no party with a majority, the President asks the leader of the largest party to attempt to form a government coalition. Therefore, the election of members of a party to parliament is the equivalent to a vote for that partys leader for Prime Minister. There is no limit to the number of mandates as Prime Minister, he/she is appointed by the President of the Republic, after the legislative elections and after an audience with every leader of a party represented at the Assembly. It is usual for the leader of the party receives a plurality of votes in the elections to be named Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has a role in the executive branch in accordance with the Hungarian Constitution. Further, the Prime Minister selects Cabinet ministers and has the right to dismiss them as is the case with the Chancellor of Germany. Cabinet nominees appear before one or more parliamentary committees in consultative open hearings and they must then survive a vote by Parliament and be formally approved by the President. The palatine was the highest dignitary in the Kingdom of Hungary after the king from the rise up to 1848/1918. Initially, he was in fact the representative of the king, in the early centuries of the kingdom, he was appointed by the king, later elected by the Diet of the Kingdom of Hungary. After the Habsburgs solidified their hold of Hungary, the dignity became a position once again. Finally, it became hereditary in a branch of the Habsburg dynasty after King Francis appointed his brother Joseph. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 the revolutionaries wanted the creation of a Hungarian cabinet which would be independent from the Austrian Empire, one of the 12 points said,2. Ferdinand V appointed Count Lajos Batthyány for the position of Prime Minister of Hungary on 17 March 1848, the government was called ministry, differently from the current acceptation. Batthyány resigned on October 2,1848 he was succeeded by Lajos Kossuth as President of the Committee of National Defence and this executive body has not been allocated the portfolios. In April 1849, when the Hungarians had won many successes, after sounding the army, in May Bertalan Szemere was appointed Prime Minister. The position was vacant after the defeat of the freedom fight, List of rulers of Hungary List of heads of state of Hungary List of palatines of Hungary List of Prime Ministers of Hungary by tenure
7.
National Assembly (Hungary)
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The National Assembly is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 199 members elected to 4-year terms, election of members is based on a complex system involving both area and list election, parties must win at least 5% of the popular vote in order to enter the list of members of the assembly. The Assembly includes 25 standing committees to debate and report on introduced bills, the Constitutional Court of Hungary has the right to challenge legislation on the grounds of constitutionality. The assembly has met in the Hungarian Parliament Building in Budapest since 1902, the name of the legislative body was originally Parlamentum during the Middle Ages, the Diet expression gained mostly in the Early Modern period. It convened at regular intervals with interruptions during the period of 1527 to 1918, as a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise, it was reconstituted in 1867. Natio Hungarica was a geographic, institutional and juridico-political category, the democratic character of the Hungarian parliament was reestablished with the fall of the Iron Curtain and the end of communist dictatorship in 1989. Todays parliament is still called Országgyűlés just like in royal times, at the sixth parliamentary elections, four parties or party alliances passed the minimum threshold, the Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union in alliance with the Christian Democratic Peoples Party. Fidesz-KDNP candidates won seats to achieve a two-thirds majority required to modify major laws. The Hungarian Socialist Party won 59 seats, while its former coalition party Alliance of Free Democrats failed to win any seats, there were two newcomers to the Országgyűlés, Jobbik and Politics Can Be Different. 1 independent got into the Parliament, winning a constituency in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, the other prestigious party, the Hungarian Democratic Forum also lost all its seats. The President of Fidesz and Prime Minister is Viktor Orbán, pál Schmitt served as Speaker of the National Assembly until August 2010 when he became President of Hungary. He was replaced by László Kövér, after the 2010 local elections, held on the 3rd of October, Katalin Szili founded the Social Union and became its first chairperson. As a result, she quit the Hungarian Socialist Party and their parliamentarian group, continuing the parliamentarian work as formally independent MP. The heads of the factions were, MSZP, Ildikó Lendvai, Attila Mesterházy Fidesz, Tibor Navracsics KDNP, Zsolt Semjén SZDSZ, Gábor Kuncze, Mátyás Eörsi, János Kóka. MDF, the faction of MDF broke up in 2009. The head of the allied faction Fidesz-KDNP was Viktor Orbán, the head of the minority government was Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány then Gordon Bajnai. The speaker of the Assembly was Katalin Szili then Béla Katona of the MSZP
8.
Fidesz
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Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance is a right-wing national conservative and populist political party in Hungary. Fidesz also retains current majorities in the county legislatures, almost all urban counties and it has been described as neo-fascist, and is a troubled member of the European Peoples Party. The party was founded in 1988, named simply Fidesz, originally as a youthful libertarian, Fidesz was founded by young democrats, mainly students, who were persecuted by the communist party and had to meet in small, clandestine groups. The movement became a force in many areas of modern Hungarian history. The membership had an age limit of 35 years. In 1989, Fidesz won the Rafto Prize, the Hungarian youth opposition movement was represented by one of its leaders, Dr Péter Molnár, who became a Member of Parliament in Hungary. In 1992, Fidesz joined the Liberal International, Fidesz received 8. 95%,7. 02% and 29. 48%. After its disappointing result in the 1994 elections, Fidesz changed its position from liberal to conservative. In 1995, it added Hungarian Civic Party to its shortened name, the conservative turn caused a severe split in the membership. Péter Molnár left the party, as well as Gábor Fodor and Klára Ungár, Fidesz gained power in 1998 under leader and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who governed Hungary in coalition with the smaller Hungarian Democratic Forum and the Independent Smallholders Party. In 2000, Fidesz joined the European Peoples Party and had its membership in the Liberal International terminated, Fidesz narrowly lost the 2002 elections to the Hungarian Socialist Party, by 41. 07% to the Socialists 42. 05%. Fidesz had 169 members of the Hungarian National Assembly, out of a total of 386, following the defeat, the municipal elections in October saw huge Fidesz losses. In the spring of 2003, Fidesz took its current name, the election of Dr. László Sólyom as the new President of Hungary as the most recent success of the party. He was endorsed by Védegylet, an NGO including people from the political spectrum. His activity does not entirely overlap with the ideals and he championed for elements of both political wings with a selective, but conscious choice of values. In 2005, Fidesz and the Christian Democratic Peoples Party formed an alliance for the 2006 elections, on October 1,2006, Fidesz won the municipal elections, which counterbalanced the MSZP-led governments power to some extent. In the 2009 European Parliament election, Fidesz won a landslide victory, in the final result, they won 263 seats, of which 173 are individual seats. Fidesz held 227 of these seats, giving it a majority in the National Assembly by itself
9.
Christian Democratic People's Party (Hungary)
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The Christian Democratic Peoples Party is a political party in Hungary. Without Fidesz, its support cannot be measured, and even a leading Fidesz politician, the party was founded under the name of KDNP on 13 October 1944 by Hungarian Catholic statesmen, intellectuals and clergy, and was a successor to the pre-war United Christian Party. Among the founders were Bishop Vilmos Apor, Béla Kovrig, László Varga, General József Pálffy, ethnographer Sándor Bálint and it was an offshoot of the Catholic Social Folk Movement, a civil organization. At the beginning of 1945 they elected Barankovics as principal secretary, the new KDNP enjoyed just four or five months of semi-legality towards the end of World War II. At the end of the war, the communist-dominated post-war authorities refused to legalize it or permit it to operate further, despite attempts by Varga and Barankovics, they were refused official permission to operate and take part in elections. Some of the founders, including Varga, were imprisoned for some days by detachments of the Arrow Cross Party. The left wing gained increasing ascendancy in the party, and on 8 May 1945, the 1947 elections saw the DNP finish second in the popular vote, winning 60 of the 411 seats. DNP was a democratic and anticommunist organisation, in 1949, Mátyás Rákosi asked Barankovics for the partys leaders to help him in the show trial against Cardinal Mindszenty, who was alreadyill in prison. Barankovics refused and, abandoning his party, escaped to Austria in an American diplomats car, many people followed his example, others were imprisoned by communists. The party was dissolved in January 1949. The party was refounded in 1989 with its present name, the link between the historical party and the present one is disputed, although prominent members of the original party, like László Varga, took part in its refoundatuon. It was part of the Hungarian National Assembly between 1990 and 1998, from 1998 on, it has been closely associated with the Hungarian party Fidesz. In 2005 Fidesz and the KDNP signed an agreement for election cooperation, in the 2006 elections this alliance gained strength, winning 42. 0% of the list votes and 164 representatives out of 386 in the National Assembly. The party decided to form a parliamentary faction with 23 representatives. It is the third largest faction in the National Assembly and co-operates closely with the Fidesz faction, as of 2017, the party leader is Zsolt Semjén, deputy prime minister. KDNP is a right-wing, conservative Christian party, KDNP has been a proponent of the severe restriction on Sunday shopping for a long time, citing Christian values. Parliament voted on the issue on December 14,2014 and the law came into effect on March 15,2015, public opinion was predominantly against the decision. Three polls done in the spring of 2015 registered an opposition of 64%, by the end of May, according to a poll by Medián, 72% of those polled disliked the new law, even the majority of Fidesz-KDNP voters were against it
10.
Jobbik
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Jobbik, the Movement for a Better Hungary, commonly known as Jobbik, is a Hungarian radical nationalist political party. The party describes itself as a principled, conservative and radically patriotic Christian party, whose purpose is the protection of Hungarian values. By contrast, the party has been described by others as neo-Nazi, after the Hungarian parliamentary elections on 6 April 2014, the party polled 1,020,476 votes, securing 20. 54% of the total, making them Hungarys third largest party in the National Assembly. The Movement for a Better Hungary more commonly goes under its abbreviated name Jobbik, the word jobb in Hungarian has two meanings, the adjective for better and the direction right, the comparative Jobbik therefore means both the more preferable choice and more to the right. This is similar to the English phrase right choice, which could mean both a choice on the side of the political spectrum and a correct choice. The party describes itself as a principled, conservative and radically patriotic Christian party, whose purpose is the protection of Hungarian values. For its part, Jobbik rejects the common classification of the spectrum in left. It prefers a distinction of political parties based on their stance towards globalisation, on this scheme, the party sees itself as patriotic. The party also rejects the term far-right, and instead labels itself as radical right-wing and it has also criticised media companies for labelling them as far-right and has threatened to take action towards those who do. Jobbik describes itself as rejecting global capitalism, European integration and Zionism, instead it adheres to Pan-Turanism, an ideology that asserts that Hungarians originate from the Ural–Altaic race. The movement is described by scholars and media outlets as fascist, neo-fascist, Neo-Nazi, extremist, racist, antisemitic, antiziganist. Jobbik rejects globalised capitalism, and the influence of foreign investors in Hungary, Jobbik specifically opposes Israeli and Jewish investment in Hungary. Jobbik officially maintains that it rejects violence and supports democracy, the party argues that the national police should be greatly strengthened and, along with the Fidesz, supports introducing a three strikes law. However, Jobbiks connections to the now-banned Magyar Gárda militia have raised concerns about the commitment to ensuring peace and order within Hungarian society. Jobbik supports bringing back the death penalty and have promised to restore capital punishment if they come to power. Jobbiks Hungarian irredentism can be found in pleas for cross-border ethnic self-determination, for example, the party demands territorial autonomy for the Székely Land in Romania and desires to make Carpathian Ruthenia an independent Hungarian district. Jobbik frequently calls for a return to pre-Treaty of Trianon borders in political rhetoric, a quarter of ethnic Hungarians live outside the country. Jobbik dedicates itself to supporting the cause of the significant Hungarian minorities residing in adjoining countries, the meaning of the partys 2009 election slogan Hungary belongs to the Hungarians was also the subject of considerable scrutiny
11.
Politics Can Be Different
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Politics Can Be Different is a green-liberal political party in Hungary. Founded in 2009, it was one of four parties to win seats in the National Assembly in the 2010 parliamentary election, the party is a member of the European Green Party. The party was preceded by a non-governmental organization social initiative founded in 2008, LMP shares common ideologies with most green parties. Key issues are environmental protection, sustainable development and the fight against corruption in the current political elite, in 2009, LMP received the official endorsement of the European Green Party. Gábor Ivády was the party member to be elected mayor of a town. For instance, during the by-election in the 2nd District of Budapest in 2011, MSZP urged the LMPs candidate Gergely Karácsony to withdraw in Katalin Lévais favor, but the Green party did not do this. The leadership of the LMP positioned the party to the centre, andrás Schiffer also criticized the previous Socialist cabinets, blaming Ferenc Gyurcsánys disastrous governance for having Fidesz won a two-thirds majority in 2010. However prominent politicians in LMP were divided on the issue of cooperation, in July 2011, Karácsony proposed an election coalition between Jobbik, LMP and MSZP, to change certain laws enacted by Fidesz. He cited Éva Tétényis case, as a precedent of how such a proposal could work, politics Can Be Different became a full member of the European Green Party in November 2011. During the partys congress in November 2012, LMP decided not to join Together 2014, as a result, Benedek Jávor, a proponent of the agreement, resigned from his position of parliamentary group leader. Jávor and his supporters founded a platform within the party, called Dialogue for Hungary on 26 November 2012, the platform argued in favour of conclusion of an electoral agreement with Bajnais movement in order to replace Orbáns regime. Later that day Schiffer, who did not support the cooperation with Bajnai, was elected leader of the LMP parliamentary group for second time, in January 2013, the LMPs congress rejected again the electoral cooperation with other opposition parties, including Together 2014. As a result, members of the partys Dialogue for Hungary platform left LMP to form a new political organization, Benedek Jávor announced the eight leaving MPs will not resign from their parliamentary seats. Seven parliamentarians remained in the party, Jávor said negotiations are required for the operation of the parliamentary group, according to the house rules. Schiffer did not call the secession as a party split, because, he argued, less than 10% of the LMPs membership decided to leave the party, the leaving MPs established Dialogue for Hungary as an officially registered party in March 2013. After the failed negotiations, the eight MPs also left the group which then broken up according to the house rules of the National Assembly. Party offered electoral alliance to the LMP, partys cooperation offer in September 2013. Schiffer and Bernadett Szél were elected co-presidents of the LMP during the congress on 24 March 2013
12.
Dialogue for Hungary
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The party had formed a coalition with the Together 2014 and they won together four seats in the national assembly and one seat in the European Parliament. The Dialogue for Hungary has taken one seat from the four in the Hungarian parliament and has one representative in Brussels, on 24 August 2016, spokesperson Bence Tordai announced that the shortened form of the partys name will change to Dialogue, and the Hungary word is removed. In September 2016, the logo is changed to Párbeszéd. For the Hungarian Parliament, For the European Parliament,1 In an electoral alliance with Together, Hungarian Socialist Party, Democratic Coalition,2 In an electoral alliance with Together. They gained one seat, PM politician Benedek Jávor, beintett Bajnainak az LMP, lemondott Jávor Benedek. LMP fails to elect new parliamentary leader as split in party continues. Ismét Schiffer András az LMP-frakció vezetője, LMP rejects proposals for new strategy at party congress. LMP splits over cooperation with Together 2014, caucus may remain intact, LMP rebels to establish Dialogue for Hungary as a full-fledged party. Eight breakaway LMP lawmakers to sit as independents, Jávor Benedek és Szabó Tímea vezetik a Párbeszéd Magyarországért tömörülést. Megszűntnek tekinti az LMP-frakciót a Fővárosi Közgyűlés, dunaújvárosi a Párbeszéd Magyarországért első helyi szervezete. Former PM Bajnais political movement officially forms political party, list of political parties in Hungary Official website
13.
Hungarian Socialist Party
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The Hungarian Socialist Party, known mostly by its acronym MSZP, is a social-democratic political party in Hungary. It was founded on 7 October 1989 as a democratic party by the reform wing of the ruling socialist Hungarian Socialist Workers Party. MSZP was one of the two parties in Hungarian politics until 2010, however, the party lost much of its popular support as a result of 2006 protests. Since then, the MSZP has been the strongest opposition party in the parliament since 2010 and it is the partial successor of the communist Hungarian Socialist Workers Party, which ruled Hungary between 1956 and 1989. The decision to declare the party a successor of the MSZMP was controversial, another source of controversy is that some members of the former communist elite maintained political influence in the MSZP. Indeed, many key MSZP politicians were members or held leadership positions within the MSZMP. The party is not to be confused with the Workers Party, the MSZP, in contrast, implemented a strong package of market reforms, austerity and privatization in 1995-96, called the Bokros package, when Hungary faced an economic and financial crisis. In contrast, issues like church and state and former communists show alignment along the traditional left-right spectrum and it is also noteworthy that, according to research, the MSZP elites positions used to be closer to voters of the SZDSZ than to their own. Besides Gyula Horn, the MSZPs most internationally recognized politicians were Ferenc Gyurcsány and László Kovács, at the 2006 elections, MSZP won with 43. 2% of party list votes, which gave it 190 representatives out of 386 in the Parliament. The MSZP was therefore able to retain its coalition government from the previous term, in earlier elections, the MSZP polled 10. 89%,32. 98%,32. 92% and 42. 05%. After the successful fees abolishment referendum, MSZP formed the first minority government of Hungary, on 21 March 2009 Gyurcsány announced his resignation as Prime Minister due to failure management of the economic crisis. Gordon Bajnai became the nominee of MSZP for the post of minister in March 2009. Gyurcsány also resigned from his position of party chairman, which he had occupied since 2007. MSZP has lost half of its supporters during the European Parliament election in 2009 and this electoral defeat marked the end of the de facto two-party system in Hungary, which lasted since 1998. The Hungarian Socialist Party suffered a defeat in the 2010 election, gaining only 19, 3% of the votes. Following the resignation of Ildikó Lendvai, the prime minister candidate Attila Mesterházy was elected Chairman of the Socialist Party. Nevertheless, MSZP became the biggest opposition party in Hungary, initially, the former PM wanted to reform the party, but his goals remained in the minority. As a result, Gyurcsány, along with nine members of the parliamentary group, left MSZP
14.
Democratic Coalition (Hungary)
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For the Greek party alliance see Democratic Coalition. The Democratic Coalition is a political party in Hungary led by former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány. Founded in 2010 as a faction within the Hungarian Socialist Party and it has four MPs in the National Assembly, and two MEPs in the European Parliament. On 5 October 2010 Gyurcsány announced to the party executive that he is founding a platform named the Democratic Coalition within the party and he said he will organise a broad, open social community for 1989 democrats, and a political representation for them. The mood at the meeting was calm, but several party officials expressed disagreement with him, the Democratic Coalition held its inaugural meeting at 2 p. m. in the Szent István Park in the 13th District on 22 October 2010. The former Prime Ministers group became the Hungarian Socialist partys seventh platform, the latter idea was only supported by the Democratic Coalition Platform. He dismissed Gyurcsánys idea of embracing liberal and conservative trends, Gyurcsánys model would make the party dysfunctional, he said. The new Democratic Coalition party is to be a Western, Left-wing formation with ten lawmakers, Gyurcsány announced on the first anniversary that its forerunner, the Democratic Coalition Platform, was set up. He said the reason why he had decided to leave the MSZP was that the party had failed in its efforts to transform itself, Socialist representatives strongly condemned Gyurcsány, who had only last week signed a pledge to stay on in the party. The formerly existing Democratic Party changed its name to Democratic Coalition, at a press conference, Gyurcsány also announced that the renewed party had elected Tamás Bauer, József Debreczeni, Csaba Molnár and Péter Niedermüller deputy chairmen. The new formation, an offspring of Gyurcsánys former Democratic Coalition Platform within the MSZP, according to the parliamentary rules, any parliamentarian that leaves or is expelled from a party faction must sit as an independent candidate for six months before joining another faction. However, in April 2012, the ruling party Fidesz approved a new House rules under which DK may not form a parliamentary group, Gyurcsány described the change in the House rules as petty revenge on the part of the prime minister. Csaba Molnár said they might take the matter to the Constitutional Court, Attila Mesterházy told a forum held at the party headquarters, broadcast by commercial news channel ATV, that in order to win next years election, the MSZP need to win over uncertain voters. The party board decided that running with Gyurcsány would keep uncertain voters away, Gyurcsány said the MSZP had proposed cooperation in four instead of nine constituencies, all of which were impossible to win. In addition they offered every 25th place on their party list, another request was that DK should not present a platform of its own. The party could not accept these conditions, the politician said, on 14 January 2014, centre-left opposition parties agreed to submit a joint list for the spring 2014 general election, party leaders announced. The list was headed by MSZP leader Attila Mesterházy, who is the centre-left alliances candidate for Prime Minister, Mesterházy is followed by Gordon Bajnai as second and Ferenc Gyurcsány as third on the list. The Hungarian Liberal Party also received two places on the list
15.
Elections in Hungary
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Elections in Hungary are held at two levels, general elections to elect the members of the National Assembly, and local elections to elect local authorities. European Parliament elections are held every 5 years. The last National Assembly elected according to the old system was elected in 2010 and had been working until 2014, the National Assembly had 386 members, elected for a four-year term. 176 members were elected in single-seat constituencies,152 by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies, for the latter two, an election threshold of 5% is in effect. Or in case of two parties joint list, the threshold is 10%, in case of three or more parties, 15%, general elections in Hungary were held in two rounds until 2010, with a second, run-off round taking place two weeks after the first. From 2014 a one-round system replaced the existing system. After the polls close, The result in single-seat constituencies where turnout was below 50% is declared invalid. Any single-seat constituency where turnout was over 50% and one received over 50% of the votes is won by that candidate. In all remaining single-seat constituencies, the candidates who finished the first three plus any more candidates having received at least 15% of votes may enter the second round, the result for multi-seat constituencies where the turnout was over 50% is produced. In the second round, each voter may cast one vote for one candidate standing in the single-seat constituency. After the polls close, Any seats in single-seat constituencies where turnout was below 25%, all other single-seat constituencies will be won by the candidate who received the most votes. The result of multi-seat constituencies where turnout was below 25% is declared invalid, the parties passing the threshold are identified based on multi-seat constituencies with a valid result. Seats from these constituencies are distributed, the electoral laws were changed in 2012. The first elections to be according to the new system were organized in 2014. The 2014 elections were held on the 6th of April, the following significant changes had been issued in the electoral system, One round system instead of the two round system. No 50%, nor 25% turnout is necessary and this minority spokesman solution gives the opportunity to minorities to speak in the National Assembly even if they cannot gain the approximately 1% of all votes. Practically German and Romani minorities have the chance to have MP-s, the average population of constituencies used to be 57089 and will be 94789 in 2014. The constituency borders do not coincide with city or district borders, however they have to coincide with county borders, Budapest used to consist of 32 constituencies and will consist of 18 in 2014
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Hungarian parliamentary election, 2010
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Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 11 and 25 April 2010 to choose MPs for the National Assembly. They were the free elections since the end of communist era. 386 members of parliament were elected in a system of party lists. In the first round of the elections, the conservative party Fidesz won the majority of seats. In the second round Fidesz-Christian Democratic Peoples Party candidates won seats to achieve a two-thirds majority required to modify major laws. This speech surfaced in the press in the Autumn of 2006, as polls showed both MDF and SZDSZ would be unlikely to make it into parliament on their own, they have agreed to a limited electoral cooperation. Following the EU elections of 2009, trends showed the rise of right-wing parties, in this vein, the foreign media cited ominous trends concerning the election results. Jobbik leader, Gábor Vona, also stirred up controversy with allegations of chauvinism by saying Hungary is for Hungarians, Molnar also claimed that the language of instruction in Jerusalem schools was Hungarian and they were learning the language of their future homeland. His party at the time, Fidesz, did not denounce his statement, adding that he would not even consider ousting Molnar from his party or parliamentary faction, as the remark did not violate the partys bylaws. However, in 2010 he was excluded from the Fidesz, due to these remarks, instead of him, a Lebanese-origin doctor, Pierre Daher became the Fidesz candidate. Molnár also claimed that pregnant Roma women deliberately try to induce birth defects so they can give birth to fools to receive higher family subsidies, I have checked this and it’s true, they hit their bellies with a rubber hammer so that they’ll give birth to handicapped kids. In 2011, he denounced Roma women at the Hungarian police authorities, according to Ékes, the demonstrations would harm youngsters, whose school season was to start on the same day. A Hungarian analyst was cited as saying Fidesz tolerates such provocative rhetoric from its members because of fears they would vote for Jobbik instead and this was answered by Richard Field, an American businessman living in Hungary, who is a large financial supporter of Politics Can Be Different. Staudt, a co-founder of the Magyar Gárda Society—that was banned in 2007—had been on the security committee. The four would, however, continue to be MPs, NSD - European Election Database - Hungary
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Hungarian parliamentary election, 2014
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The 2014 Hungarian parliamentary election took place on 6 April 2014. This parliamentary election was the 7th since the 1990 first multi-party election, the result was a victory for the Fidesz–KDNP alliance, preserving its two-thirds majority, with Viktor Orbán remaining Prime Minister. It was the first election under the new Constitution of Hungary which came into force on 1 January 2012, the new electoral law also entered into force that day. For the first time since Hungarys transition to democracy, the election had a single round, the voters elected 199 MPs instead of the previous 386 lawmakers. After the 2010 parliamentary election, Fidesz won a landslide victory, as a result of this election, his government was able to alter the National Constitution, as he garnered a two thirds majority. The government was able to write an article that favored traditional marriages. Orbán and his government remained popular in the months leading to the election. This was largely because of high GDP growth, increased output. The National Election Office announced that a total of 2,304 candidates submitted the required number of nominations for the election by the 3 p. m. deadline on 4 March. The candidacy of 1,531 people was accepted after completion of the registration process, on 21 February 2014, the National Election Committee registered at first the joint list of the governing Fidesz–KDNP party alliance, led by PM Viktor Orbán and KDNP president Zsolt Semjén. They have the rights as other parliamentarians to address the parliament. However the minorities could also set up national lists. If any such national list reached the 5% electoral threshold from minority votes, the Polish minority list was the first minority list to be successfully registered by the National Election Committee, on 25 February 2014. The officially recognized minority self-government organizations received a total of 298.5 million Ft of public support for campaign activity. The National Roma Council was awarded a significant portion of the funds – altogether 101 million forints – while the Bulgarians granted the lowest amount, the table below refers to the latter data. Fideszs leader Viktor Orbán celebrated in Budapest with thousands of supporters in the evening and said that Hungary was on the threshold of a new and wonderful epoch. Jobbik leader Gábor Vona said that the party is now the strongest national radical party in the EU, jobbik continuously increases it popularity and ahead of the European parliament elections it is important to make this clear. We outperformed pollsters’ expectations, but we were not able to achieve the goal we set for ourselves of winning the elections, one of the five party alliances leaders, Gordon Bajnai, said the result was a crushing defeat and a great disappointment for those who wanted change
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Hungarian presidential election, 2010
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An indirect presidential election was held in Hungary on 29 June 2010. The Prime Ministers nominee Pál Schmitt was elected by an absolute majority, following the Hungarian parliamentary election,2010, Fidesz came out with an overwhelming majority of seats. With a two-thirds majority requirement needed to elect the president, Fidesz was expected to win since it already had the necessary numbers. Nominations were due by midday of 25 June 2010, the Hungarian Socialist Party nominated university lecturer, Fidesz nominated speaker of parliament Pál Schmitt on 23 June 2010. Jobbik intended to nominate Krisztina Morvai, and Politics Can Be Different wished to nominate incumbent President László Sólyom, once elected, the new president would take office on 5 August 2010. Most Hungarians said they didnt think the President should be a member of any party, twenty-four percent said they would not vote for any of the candidates or declined to answer the question. The President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek welcomed the election of Schmitt
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Hungarian presidential election, 2012
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An early indirect presidential election was held in Hungary on 2 May 2012, following the resignation of Pál Schmitt as President of Hungary on 2 April 2012. János Áder was elected President with an absolute majority, as a result of an allegation of academic misconduct he was stripped by a legal session of the Senate of the SOTE of his doctorate degree on 29 March. On 2 April, Schmitt told Parliament he would resign as President saying that under the Constitution, I have unfortunately become a symbol of division, I feel it is my duty to leave my position. One of the five Deputy Speakers of the Parliament, Sándor Lezsák, was commissioned with exercising the Speakers rights, the Socialist Party, Politics Can Be Different and the Democratic Coalition agreed about the opposition parties guarantees for having a meaningful say in the presidential election. Jobbik nominated MEP Krisztina Morvai and former Minister of Defence Lajos Für as the candidates to the presidential position on 4 April. However, Für later announced that he would not accept the nomination, Fidesz announced that will nominate MEP János Áder. Áder was criticised for his relationship with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on the grounds that he would not serve as a check on the power of the Prime Minister. MSZP boycotted the vote because they said the move would strengthen the hand of the party who have already appointed allies to the judiciary. LMP and the Democratic Coalition also joined the boycott, let me reach out to believers and to non-believers alike, and ask them to see in each other what unites us, as understanding one another will enrich us all. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán added that the best decision for setting in motion and we know the President, we respect him and think highly of him. For its part, the Democratic Coalitions Ágnes Vadai said that Áder was not trustworthy enough to safeguard the democratic nature of the state, lMPs Benedek Jávor also said that Áder should start a constitutional review of electoral and justice laws. Its also important that the president elected now will be in office until 2017, and the office will be held by someone from the innermost circles of Fidesz even if the party loses the 2014 elections
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Administrative divisions of Hungary
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Administratively, Hungary is divided into 19 counties. In addition, the capital, Budapest, is independent of any county government, the counties and the capital are the 20 NUTS third-level units of Hungary. Since 1996, the counties and City of Budapest have been grouped into 7 regions for statistical and these seven regions constitute NUTS second-level units of Hungary. There are also 23 towns with county rights, sometimes known as counties in English. The local authorities of these towns have extended powers, but these belong to the territory of the respective county instead of being independent territorial units. The counties are subdivided into 174 districts as of January 1,2015. 23 districts of the city of Budapest are both administrative and self-government units. NUTS, HU Postal codes in Hungary - including a map of two digit zones Administrative divisions of the Kingdom of Hungary Administrative divisions of the Kingdom of Hungary
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Counties of Hungary
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Hungary is subdivided administratively into 19 counties and the capital city Budapest. The counties are subdivided into 174 districts. The capital Budapest is subdivided into 23 districts, there are 23 towns with countys rights, sometimes called urban counties. The local authorities of these towns have extended powers but they are not independent territorial units
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Central and Eastern Europe
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It is in use after the collapse of the Iron Curtain in 1989–90. In scholarly literature the abbreviations CEE or CEEC are often used for this concept, the transition countries in Europe are thus classified today into two political-economic entities, CEE and CIS. According to the World Bank, the transition is over for the 10 countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 and it can be also understood as all countries of the Eastern Bloc. The definition of this varies, depending on the source. Central Europe Central and Eastern European Online Library East-Central Europe Eastern Europe Regions of Europe Baltic states Visegrád Group
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Middle power
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In international relations, a middle power is a sovereign state that is not a superpower nor a great power, but still has large or moderate influence and international recognition. The concept of the middle power dates back to the origins of the European state system, in the late 16th century, Italian political thinker Giovanni Botero divided the world into three types of states – grandissime, mezano and piccoli. According to Botero, a mezano or middle power. has sufficient strength, no agreed standard method defines which states are middle powers. Some researchers use Gross National Product statistics to draw lists of middle powers around the world, economically, middle powers are generally those that are not considered too big or too small, however that is defined. Economics is not always the defining factor, under the original sense of the term, a middle power was one that had some degree of influence globally but did not dominate in any one area. This usage is not universal, and some define middle power to include nations that can be regarded as regional powers, however, emerging and traditional middle powers can be distinguished in terms of their mutually-influencing constitutive and behavioural differences. Constitutively, traditional middle powers are wealthy, stable, egalitarian, social democratic, emerging middle powers by contrast are semi-peripheral, materially inegalitarian and recently democratised states that demonstrate much regional influence and self-association. According to Enrico Fels from the University of Bonn, Firstly, just like great powers, finally, with regards to security and related to the first first point, a middle power must be militarily self-sufficient enough to inflict great costs upon an actively aggressive great power. Under this definition however, nuclear-armed states like India and Pakistan, Middle powers are states who commit their relative affluence, managerial skills, and international prestige to the preservation of the international order and peace. Middle powers perform these internationalist activities because of an idealistic imperative they associate with being a middle power and this imperative was particularly profound during the most intense periods of the Cold War. According to Soeya Yoshihide, Middle Power does not just mean a states size or military or economic power, rather, middle power diplomacy is defined by the issue area where a state invests its resources and knowledge. Middle powers are the force in the process of transnational institutional-building. Characteristics of middle power diplomacy include, Commitment to multilateralism through global institutions, high degree of civil society penetration in the countrys foreign policy. The term first entered Canadian political discourse after World War II, Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent, for example called Canada a power of the middle rank and helped to lay out the classical definition of Canadian middle power diplomacy. When he was advocating for Canadas election to the United Nations Security Council, in March 2008, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd defined his countrys foreign policy as one of middle power diplomacy, along the lines of similar criteria. Australia would influence international decision-makers on issues such as economic, security. The overlaps between the lists of middle powers and great powers show that there is no agreement among authorities. Some academics also believe that Germany and Japan are great powers, lists are often the subject of much debate and tend to place comparatively large countries alongside relatively smaller ones
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Atlanticism
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The term derives from the Atlantic Ocean that separates the two continents. In practice the philosophy of Atlanticism encourages active North American, particularly US, engagement in Europe and this manifested itself most strongly during the Second World War and in its aftermath through the establishment of various euro-Atlantic institutions, most importantly NATO and the Marshall Plan. Atlanticism varies in strength from region to region and country to country based on a variety of historical and cultural factors, Atlanticism is often considered to be particularly strong in eastern and central Europe, and the United Kingdom. Politically, it has tended to be associated most heavily and enthusiastically, Atlanticism often implies an affinity for American political or social culture as well as the historical bonds between the two continents. There is some tension between Atlanticism and continentalism on both sides of the Atlantic, with some people emphasising increased regional cooperation or integration over trans-Atlantic cooperation. However, the relationship between Atlanticism and North American or European integration is complex and they are not seen in opposition to one another by many commentators. Internationalism is the foreign policy belief combining both Atlanticism and continentalism, other international relationships have been increasingly emphasised, although the trans-Atlantic relationship is still arguably the most important in the world. Prior to the World Wars, European countries were preoccupied with creating colonial empires in Africa and Asia. The experience of having American and Canadian troops fighting with British, French, though the US adopted a more isolationist position between the wars, by the time of the Normandy landings the Allies were well integrated on all policies. Following the Second World War, the Western European countries were anxious to convince the US to remain engaged in European affairs to deter any aggression by the Soviet Union. After the end of the war, the relationship between the United States and Europe changed fundamentally, and made both sides less interested in the other. As a result, the relationship became less important strategically speaking. After the September 11,2001, attacks, NATO for the first time invoked Article 5, planes of NATOs multi-national AWACS unit patrolled the U. S. skies and European countries deployed personnel and equipment. However, the Iraq war caused fissures within NATO and the difference of opinion between the US led backers of the invasion and opponents strained the alliance. Some commentators, such as Robert Kagan questioned whether Europe and the United States had diverged to such a degree that their alliance was no longer relevant, Atlanticism is a belief in the necessity of cooperation between North America and Europe. The term can also be used as a shorthand for the security architecture. Supranational integration of the North Atlantic area had emerged as a focus of thinking among intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic already in the late 19th century. Although it was not known as Atlanticism at the time, they developed an approach coupling soft, the idea of an attractive nucleus union was the greatest soft power element, the empirical fact of the hegemonic global strength such a union would hold was the hard power element
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European integration
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European integration is the process of industrial, political, legal, economic, social and cultural integration of states wholly or partially in Europe. European integration has primarily come about through the European Union and its policies, one of the first to conceive of a union of European nations was Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, who wrote the Pan-Europa manifesto in 1923. In a speech delivered on 19 September 1946 at the University of Zürich, Switzerland, France and Germany must take the lead together. The question of how to avoid wars between the nation-states was essential for the first theories, federalism and Functionalism proposed the containment of the nation-state, while Transactionalism sought to theorise the conditions for the stabilisation of the nation-state system. One of the most influential theories of European integration is neofunctionalism, haas and further investigated by Leon Lindberg. The important debate between neofunctionalism and intergovernmentalism still remains central in understanding the development and setbacks of the European Union, but as the empirical world has changed, so have the theories and thus the understanding of European Integration. Today there is a new focus on the complex policy-making in the EU and multi-level governance trying to produce a theory of the workings. Various federalist organisations have created over time supporting the idea of a federal Europe. These include the Union of European Federalists, the European Movement International, the Union of European Federalists is a European non-governmental organisation, campaigning for a Federal Europe. It consists of 20 constituent organisations and it has been active at the European, the European Federalist Party is the pro-European, pan-European and federalist political party which advocates further integration of the EU and the establishment of a Federal Europe. Its aim is to gather all Europeans to promote European federalism and it has national sections in 15 countries. There are various agreements with overlapping membership, several countries take part in a larger number of agreements than others. e. The German-speaking Community of Belgium is not included and these are Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia are not part of European Organization for Nuclear Research, Slovenia has formally confirmed its wish to become a member. Some agreements that are related to countries of the European continent, are also valid in territories outside the continent. g. Other initiatives have removed barriers to trade in European regions, and increased the free movement of people, labour, goods. It includes the states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, the Nordic Passport Union, created in 1954 but implemented on 1 May 1958, establishes free movement across borders without passports for the countries citizens. The organisation was planned in Vilnius on 1 December 1990, the Baltic Free Trade Area was a trade agreement between Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia
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International development
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For other forms of development, see Development. International development or global development is a concept concerning the level of development on an international scale. It is the basis for international classifications such as developed country, developing country, There are, however, many schools of thought and conventions regarding which are the exact features constituting development of a country. Historically it has been synonymous with economic development. Recently it is often used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development as well as other concepts like competitiveness. International development is different from simple development in that it is composed of institutions. These institutions focus on alleviating poverty and improving living conditions in previously colonised, the start of the Cold War and the desire of the United States and its allies to prevent the Third World from drifting towards communism. International Development in its meaning is geared towards colonies that gained independence. The governance of the independent states should be constructed so that the inhabitants enjoy freedom from poverty, hunger. It has been argued that this era was launched on January 20,1949 and this agenda was given conceptual support during the 1950s in the form of modernization theory espoused by Walt Rostow and other American economists. By the late 1960s, dependency theory arose analysing the relationship between the West and the Third World. In response various parts of the UN system led a counter movement and they were led initially by the International Labour Organization, influenced by Paul Streeten, then by UNICEF. By the 1990s, there were writers for whom development theory had reached an impasse. The Cold War had ended, capitalism had become the dominant mode of social organization, nevertheless, a large portion of the worlds population were still living in poverty, their governments were crippled by debt and concerns about the environmental impact of globalization were rising. The critics have suggested that this integration has always been part of the agenda of development. This approach is embraced by organizations such as the Gamelan Council seeking to empower entrepreneurs, while some critics have been debating the end of development others have predicted a development revival as part of the War on Terrorism. There are a number of overarching theories about how desirable change in society is best achieved, a truly sustainable development project is one which will be able to carry on indefinitely with no further international involvement or support, whether it be financial or otherwise. International development projects may consist of a single, transformative project to address a problem or a series of projects targeted at several aspects of society
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International law
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Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states, analogous entities, such as the Holy See, and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, the field of study combines two main branches, the law of nations and international agreements and conventions. The Italian jurist Sir Alberico Gentili was the first to write on public international law and it is usually distinguished from private international law, which concerns the resolution of conflict of laws. The concept of nationalism became increasingly important as people began to see themselves as citizens of a nation with a distinct national identity. Men who take up arms against one another in public war do not cease on this account to be moral beings, responsible to one another and it does not admit of the use of poison in any way, nor of the wanton devastation of a district. It admits of deception, but disclaims acts of perfidy, and, in general, because international law is a relatively new area of law its development and propriety in applicable areas are often subject to dispute. Under article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, in addition, judicial decisions and teachings may be applied as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law. International treaty law comprises obligations states expressly and voluntarily accept between themselves in treaties, customary international law is derived from the consistent practice of States accompanied by opinio juris, i. e. the conviction of States that the consistent practice is required by a legal obligation. Judgments of international tribunals as well as scholarly works have traditionally looked to as persuasive sources for custom in addition to direct evidence of state behavior. Attempts to codify customary international law picked up momentum after the Second World War with the formation of the International Law Commission, codified customary law is made the binding interpretation of the underlying custom by agreement through treaty. For states not party to treaties, the work of the ILC may still be accepted as custom applying to those states. General principles of law are commonly recognized by the major legal systems of the world. Certain norms of international law achieve the binding force of peremptory norms as to all states with no permissible derogations. Colombia v Perú ICJ6, recognising custom as a source of international law, belgium v Spain ICJ1, only the state where a corporation is incorporated has standing to bring an action for damages for economic loss. Where there are disputes about the meaning and application of national laws. The subjective approach, which takes into consideration i. the idea behind the treaty, ii. treaties in their context, what the writers intended when they wrote the text. A third approach, which bases itself on interpretation in the light of its object and purpose, i. e. the interpretation that best suits the goal of the treaty and these are general rules of interpretation, specific rules might exist in specific areas of international law. Greece v United Kingdom ICJ1, ICJ had no jurisdiction to hear a dispute between the UK government and a private Greek businessman under the terms of a treaty
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Economy of Hungary
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The Hungarian economy is the 57th-largest economy in the world with $265.037 billion annual output, and ranks 49th in the world in terms of GDP per capita measured by purchasing power parity. Hungary is a market economy with a heavy emphasis on foreign trade. The country had more than $100 billion of exports in 2015, with a trade surplus of $9.003 billion, of which 79% went to the EU. Hungarys productive capacity is more than 80% privately owned, with 39. 1% overall taxation, on the expenditure side, household consumption is the main component of GDP and accounts for 50% of its total, followed by gross fixed capital formation with 22% and government expenditure with 20%. As of 2015, the key trading partners of Hungary were Germany, Austria, Romania, Slovakia, France, Italy, Poland, major industries include food processing, pharmaceuticals, motor vehicles, information technology, chemicals, metallurgy, machinery, electrical goods, and tourism. Hungary is the largest electronics producer in Central and Eastern Europe, electronics manufacturing and research are among the main drivers of innovation and economic growth in the country. In the past 20 years Hungary has also grown into a center for mobile technology, information security. The unemployment rate was 4. 3% in January 2017, down from 11% during the crisis of 2007–08. Hungary is part of the European single market which represents more than 508 million consumers, several domestic commercial policies are determined by agreements among European Union members and by EU legislation. Large Hungarian companies are included in the BUX, the Hungarian stock market index listed on Budapest Stock Exchange, well-known companies include the Fortune Global 500 firms MOL Group, the OTP Bank, Gedeon Richter Plc. Magyar Telekom, CIG Pannonia, FHB Bank, Zwack Unicum, besides these, Hungary has large number of specialised small and medium enterprises, for example many automotive industry suppliers and technology start ups, among others. Budapest is the financial and business capital of Hungary. 4%, on the national level, Budapest is the primary city of Hungary for business, accounting for 39% of the national income. The city had a gross metropolitan product of more than $100 billion in 2015, Budapest is also among the Top100 GDP performing cities in the world, as measured by PricewaterhouseCoopers. In a global city competitiveness ranking by EIU, Budapest is ranked above Tel Aviv, Lisbon, Moscow and Johannesburg, the Hungarian National Bank—founded in 1924, after the dissolution of Austro-Hungarian Empire—is currently focusing on price stability with an inflation target of 3%. In the age of feudalism the key factor was land. The new economic and social orders created private ownership of land, there are three forms of existence, the royal, ecclesiastical and secular private estate. The royal estate of the dynasty had evolved from the tribal lands. The origin of the private holdings dates back to the conquest tribal common estates
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International trade
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International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. It is the exchange of goods and services among nations of the world, in most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product. While international trade has existed throughout history, its economic, social, trading globally gives consumers and countries the opportunity to be exposed to new markets and products. Almost every kind of product can be found on the market, food, clothes, spare parts, oil, jewellery, wine, stocks, currencies. Services are also traded, tourism, banking, consulting and transportation, a product that is sold to the global market is an export, and a product that is bought from the global market is an import. Imports and exports are accounted for in a current account in the balance of payments. Industrialization, advanced technology, including transportation, globalization, multinational corporations, increasing international trade is crucial to the continuance of globalization. Without international trade, nations would be limited to the goods, the main difference is that international trade is typically more costly than domestic trade. Another difference between domestic and international trade is that factors of such as capital and labor are typically more mobile within a country than across countries. Thus international trade is restricted to trade in goods and services. Trade in goods and services can serve as a substitute for trade in factors of production, instead of importing a factor of production, a country can import goods that make intensive use of that factor of production and thus embody it. An example is the import of goods by the United States from China. Instead of importing Chinese labor, the United States imports goods that were produced with Chinese labor, International trade is also a branch of economics, which, together with international finance, forms the larger branch called international economics. The history of international trade chronicles notable events that have affected the trade between various economies, there are several models which seek to explain the factors behind international trade, the welfare consequences of trade and the pattern of trade. </ref></ref>==Largest countries by total international trade== Source, International Trade Centre President George W. Bush observed World Trade Week on May 18,2001, mcKenzie, Lionel W. Specialization and Efficiency in World Production. A Ricardo-Sraffa Paradigm Comparing the Gains from Trade in Inputs and Finished Goods, the definitions and methodological concepts applied for the various statistical collections on international trade often differ in terms of definition and coverage. Metadata providing information on definitions and methods are published along with the data. Ptas. mcgill. ca Historical documents on international trade available on FRASER
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United Nations
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The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization to promote international co-operation. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on 24 October 1945 after World War II in order to prevent another such conflict, at its founding, the UN had 51 member states, there are now 193. The headquarters of the UN is in Manhattan, New York City, further main offices are situated in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states, the UNs mission to preserve world peace was complicated in its early decades by the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies. The organization participated in actions in Korea and the Congo. After the end of the Cold War, the UN took on major military, the UN has six principal organs, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Trusteeship Council. UN System agencies include the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UNESCO, the UNs most prominent officer is the Secretary-General, an office held by Portuguese António Guterres since 2017. Non-governmental organizations may be granted consultative status with ECOSOC and other agencies to participate in the UNs work, the organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, and a number of its officers and agencies have also been awarded the prize. Other evaluations of the UNs effectiveness have been mixed, some commentators believe the organization to be an important force for peace and human development, while others have called the organization ineffective, corrupt, or biased. Following the catastrophic loss of life in the First World War, the earliest concrete plan for a new world organization began under the aegis of the US State Department in 1939. It incorporated Soviet suggestions, but left no role for France, four Policemen was coined to refer to four major Allied countries, United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China, which emerged in the Declaration by United Nations. Roosevelt first coined the term United Nations to describe the Allied countries, the term United Nations was first officially used when 26 governments signed this Declaration. One major change from the Atlantic Charter was the addition of a provision for religious freedom, by 1 March 1945,21 additional states had signed. Each Government pledges itself to cooperate with the Governments signatory hereto, the foregoing declaration may be adhered to by other nations which are, or which may be, rendering material assistance and contributions in the struggle for victory over Hitlerism. During the war, the United Nations became the term for the Allies. To join, countries had to sign the Declaration and declare war on the Axis, at the later meetings, Lord Halifax deputized for Mr. Eden, Wellington Koo for T. V. Soong, and Mr Gromyko for Mr. Molotov. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, the General Assembly selected New York City as the site for the headquarters of the UN, and the facility was completed in 1952. Its site—like UN headquarters buildings in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi—is designated as international territory, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Trygve Lie, was elected as the first UN Secretary-General
31.
European Union
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The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2, the EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished, a monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002, and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency. The EU operates through a system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community, the community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. While no member state has left the EU or its antecedent organisations, the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European citizenship. The latest major amendment to the basis of the EU. The EU as a whole is the largest economy in the world, additionally,27 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Programme. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7, because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as an emerging superpower. After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the nationalism which had devastated the continent. 1952 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the supporters of the Community included Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and Paul-Henri Spaak. These men and others are credited as the Founding fathers of the European Union. In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome and they also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958, the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand, Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members. During the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power, Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission. In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland, Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum
32.
NATO
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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party, three NATO members are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and are officially nuclear-weapon states. NATOs headquarters are located in Haren, Brussels, Belgium, while the headquarters of Allied Command Operations is near Mons. NATO is an Alliance that consists of 28 independent member countries across North America and Europe, an additional 22 countries participate in NATOs Partnership for Peace program, with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programmes. The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the global total, Members defence spending is supposed to amount to 2% of GDP. The course of the Cold War led to a rivalry with nations of the Warsaw Pact, politically, the organization sought better relations with former Warsaw Pact countries, several of which joined the alliance in 1999 and 2004. N. The Treaty of Brussels, signed on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, the treaty and the Soviet Berlin Blockade led to the creation of the Western European Unions Defence Organization in September 1948. However, participation of the United States was thought necessary both to counter the power of the USSR and to prevent the revival of nationalist militarism. He got a hearing, especially considering American anxiety over Italy. In 1948 European leaders met with U. S. defense, military and diplomatic officials at the Pentagon, marshalls orders, exploring a framework for a new and unprecedented association. Talks for a new military alliance resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty and it included the five Treaty of Brussels states plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949 that the goal was to keep the Russians out, the Americans in. Popular support for the Treaty was not unanimous, and some Icelanders participated in a pro-neutrality, the creation of NATO can be seen as the primary institutional consequence of a school of thought called Atlanticism which stressed the importance of trans-Atlantic cooperation. The members agreed that an attack against any one of them in Europe or North America would be considered an attack against them all. The treaty does not require members to respond with military action against an aggressor, although obliged to respond, they maintain the freedom to choose the method by which they do so. This differs from Article IV of the Treaty of Brussels, which states that the response will be military in nature. It is nonetheless assumed that NATO members will aid the attacked member militarily, the treaty was later clarified to include both the members territory and their vessels, forces or aircraft above the Tropic of Cancer, including some Overseas departments of France. The creation of NATO brought about some standardization of allied military terminology, procedures, and technology, the roughly 1300 Standardization Agreements codified many of the common practices that NATO has achieved
33.
OECD
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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an intergovernmental economic organisation with 35 member countries, founded in 1960 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. Most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index and are regarded as developed countries, in 1948, the OECD originated as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation, led by Robert Marjolin of France, to help administer the Marshall Plan. This would be achieved by allocating American financial aid and implementing programs for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. The OECDs headquarters are at the Château de la Muette in Paris, the OECD is funded by contributions from member states at varying rates. And had a budget of EUR363 million in 2015. It started its operations on 16 April 1948, and originated from the work done by the Committee of European Economic Co-operation in 1947 in preparation for the Marshall Plan, since 1949, it was headquartered in the Château de la Muette in Paris, France. After the Marshall Plan ended, the OEEC focused on economic issues, in 1958, a European Nuclear Energy Agency was set up under the OEEC. By the end of the 1950s, with the job of rebuilding Europe effectively done, some leading countries felt that the OEEC had outlived its purpose and this reconstituted organisation would bring the US and Canada, who were already OEEC observers, on board as full members. It would also set to work away on bringing in Japan. Following the 1957 Rome Treaties to launch the European Economic Community, the Convention was signed in December 1960 and the OECD officially superseded the OEEC in September 1961. It consisted of the European founder countries of the OEEC plus the United States and Canada, the official founding members are, During the next 12 years Japan, Finland, Australia, and New Zealand also joined the organisation. Yugoslavia had observer status in the organisation starting with the establishment of the OECD until its dissolution as a country, the OECD created agencies such as the OECD Development Centre, International Energy Agency, and Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering. Unlike the organizations of the United Nations system, OECD uses the spelling organisation with an s in its name rather than organization, in 1989, after the Revolutions of 1989, the OECD started to assist countries in Central Europe to prepare market economy reforms. This programme also included an option for these countries. As a result of this, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, in the 1990s, a number of European countries, now members of the European Union, expressed their willingness to join the organisation. In 1995, Cyprus applied for membership, but, according to the Cypriot government, in 1996, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania signed a Joint Declaration expressing willingness to become full members of the OECD. Slovenia also applied for membership that same year, in 2005, Malta applied to join the organisation. The EU is lobbying for admission of all EU member states, Romania reaffirmed in 2012 its intention to become a member of the organisation through the letter addressed by the Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta to OECD Secretary-General José Ángel Gurría
34.
WTO
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The World Trade Organization is an intergovernmental organization which regulates international trade. The WTO officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, signed by 123 nations on 15 April 1994, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, most of the issues that the WTO focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations, especially from the Uruguay Round. The WTO is attempting to complete negotiations on the Doha Development Round, as of June 2012, the future of the Doha Round remained uncertain, the work programme lists 21 subjects in which the original deadline of 1 January 2005 was missed, and the round is still incomplete. This impasse has made it impossible to launch new WTO negotiations beyond the Doha Development Round, as a result, there have been an increasing number of bilateral free trade agreements between governments. As of July 2012, there were various groups in the WTO system for the current agricultural trade negotiation which is in the condition of stalemate. The WTOs current Director-General is Roberto Azevêdo, who leads a staff of over 600 people in Geneva, a trade facilitation agreement, part of the Bali Package of decisions, was agreed by all members on 7 December 2013, the first comprehensive agreement in the organizations history. Seven rounds of negotiations occurred under GATT, the first real GATT trade rounds concentrated on further reducing tariffs. Then, the Kennedy Round in the mid-sixties brought about a GATT anti-dumping Agreement, because these plurilateral agreements were not accepted by the full GATT membership, they were often informally called codes. Several of these codes were amended in the Uruguay Round, only four remained plurilateral, but in 1997 WTO members agreed to terminate the bovine meat and dairy agreements, leaving only two. Well before GATTs 40th anniversary, its members concluded that the GATT system was straining to adapt to a new globalizing world economy. In response to the problems identified in the 1982 Ministerial Declaration, the GATT still exists as the WTOs umbrella treaty for trade in goods, updated as a result of the Uruguay Round negotiations. GATT1994 is not however the only legally binding agreement included via the Final Act at Marrakesh, the highest decision-making body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which usually meets every two years. It brings together all members of the WTO, all of which are countries or customs unions, the Ministerial Conference can take decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements. When agricultural export subsidies were agreed to be phased out and adoption of the European Unions Everything, the WTO launched the current round of negotiations, the Doha Development Round, at the fourth ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar in November 2001. This was to be an effort to make globalization more inclusive and help the worlds poor, particularly by slashing barriers. The initial agenda comprised both further trade liberalization and new rule-making, underpinned by commitments to strengthen substantial assistance to developing countries. Among the various functions of the WTO, these are regarded by analysts as the most important and it provides a forum for negotiations and for settling disputes. Another priority of the WTO is the assistance of developing, least-developed and low-income countries in transition to adjust to WTO rules and disciplines through technical cooperation and training
35.
World Bank
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The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to countries of the world for capital programs. It comprises two institutions, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the International Development Association, the World Bank is a component of the World Bank Group, which is part of the United Nations system. The World Banks stated official goal is the reduction of poverty, the president of the World Bank is, traditionally, an American. The World Bank and the IMF are both based in Washington, D. C. and work closely with each other, although many countries were represented at the Bretton Woods Conference, the United States and United Kingdom were the most powerful in attendance and dominated the negotiations. Before 1974 the reconstruction and development loans provided by the World Bank were relatively small, the Banks staff were aware of the need to instill confidence in the bank. Fiscal conservatism ruled, and loan applications had to meet strict criteria, the first country to receive a World Bank loan was France. The Banks president at the time, John McCloy, chose France over two other applicants, Poland and Chile, the loan was for US$250 million, half the amount requested, and it came with strict conditions. France had to agree to produce a budget and give priority of debt repayment to the World Bank over other governments. World Bank staff closely monitored the use of the funds to ensure that the French government met the conditions. In addition, before the loan was approved, the United States State Department told the French government that its members associated with the Communist Party would first have to be removed, the French government complied with this diktat and removed the Communist coalition government - the so-called tripartisme. Within hours, the loan to France was approved, when the Marshall Plan went into effect in 1947, many European countries began receiving aid from other sources. Faced with this competition, the World Bank shifted its focus to non-European countries, in 1960, the International Development Association was formed, providing soft loans to developing countries. From 1974 to 1980 the bank concentrated on meeting the needs of people in the developing world. The size and number of loans to borrowers was greatly increased as loan targets expanded from infrastructure into social services and these changes can be attributed to Robert McNamara, who was appointed to the presidency in 1968 by Lyndon B. Johnson. McNamara implored bank treasurer Eugene Rotberg to seek out new sources of capital outside of the banks that had been the primary sources of funding. Rotberg used the bond market to increase the capital available to the bank. One consequence of the period of poverty alleviation lending was the rise of third world debt. From 1976 to 1980 developing world debt rose at an annual rate of 20%
36.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
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The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is an multilateral development bank that aims to support the building of infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region. The bank has 52 member states while another 18 are prospective members and was proposed as an initiative by the government of China. The initiative gained support from 37 regional and 20 non-regional Prospective Founding Members, major economies that did not become PFM include the G7/G8 members Japan and the United States, although Canada applied for membership on 23 September 2016. The United Nations has addressed the launch of AIIB as having potential for scaling up financing for development for the concern of global economic governance. The capital of the bank is $100 billion, equivalent to 2⁄3 of the capital of the Asian Development Bank, the bank was proposed by China in 2013 and the initiative was launched at a ceremony in Beijing in October 2014. The initial context was to better use of Chinese foreign currency reserves in the wake of the global financial crisis. The initiative was launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping on a state visit to Indonesia in October 2013. Dominance by both countries and slow reforms underlie Chinas wish to establish the AIIB, while both worry about Chinas increasing influence. In June 2014 China proposed doubling the registered capital of the bank from $50 billion to $100 billion, indonesias joining was slightly delayed due to their new presidential administration not being able to review the membership in time. Indonesia signed the MOU on 25 November 2014, the U. S. allegedly tried to keep Australia and South Korea from becoming prospective founding members, after they expressed an interest in it. However, both Australia and South Korea applied to join the bank in March 2015, Hong Kongs Financial Secretary John Tsang announced in his budget speech in February 2015 that the territory would join the AIIB. It did however not become one of the founding members. In early March 2015, the United Kingdoms Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announced that the UK had decided to apply to join the Bank, the announcement was criticised by the U. S. Obama Administration. A US government official told Financial Times, We are wary about a trend toward constant accommodation of China, the official further stated that the British decision was taken after no consultation with the US. In response, the UK indicated that the subject had been discussed between Chancellor Osborne and US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew for several months preceding the decision and it was further stated that joining the bank as a founding member would allow the UK to influence the development of the institution. Following the criticism, the White House National Security Council, in a statement to The Guardian, declared, Our position on the AIIB remains clear, the United States and many major global economies all agree there is a pressing need to enhance infrastructure investment around the world. We believe any new institution should incorporate the high standards of the World Bank. Several other European states – including Germany, France and Italy – followed the UKs decision to join the AIIB in March, States could indicate their interest in becoming a Prospective Founding Member until 31 March 2015
37.
International Monetary Fund
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The International Monetary Fund is an international organization headquartered in Washington, D. C. It now plays a role in the management of balance of payments difficulties. Countries contribute funds to a pool through a system from which countries experiencing balance of payments problems can borrow money. As of 2016, the fund had SDR477 billion, the rationale for this is that private international capital markets function imperfectly and many countries have limited access to financial markets. The IMF provides alternate sources of financing and this assistance was meant to prevent the spread of international economic crises. The IMF was also intended to help mend the pieces of the economy after the Great Depression. As well, to provide investments for economic growth and projects such as infrastructure. The IMFs role was altered by the floating exchange rates post-1971. It shifted to examining the economic policies of countries with IMF loan agreements to determine if a shortage of capital was due to economic fluctuations or economic policy, the IMF also researched what types of government policy would ensure economic recovery. Rather than maintaining a position of oversight of only exchange rates and their role became a lot more active because the IMF now manages economic policy rather than just exchange rates. In addition, the IMF negotiates conditions on lending and loans under their policy of conditionality, nonconcessional loans, which include interest rates, are provided mainly through Stand-By Arrangements, the Flexible Credit Line, the Precautionary and Liquidity Line, and the Extended Fund Facility. The IMF provides emergency assistance via the Rapid Financing Instrument to members facing urgent balance-of-payments needs, the IMF is mandated to oversee the international monetary and financial system and monitor the economic and financial policies of its member countries. This activity is known as surveillance and facilitates international cooperation, the responsibilities changed from those of guardian to those of overseer of members’ policies. In 1995 the International Monetary Fund began work on data dissemination standards with the view of guiding IMF member countries to disseminate their economic and financial data to the public. The executive board approved the SDDS and GDDS in 1996 and 1997 respectively, the system is aimed primarily at statisticians and aims to improve many aspects of statistical systems in a country. It is also part of the World Bank Millennium Development Goals, some countries initially used the GDDS, but later upgraded to SDDS. The IMF does require collateral from countries for loans but also requires the government seeking assistance to correct its macroeconomic imbalances in the form of policy reform, if the conditions are not met, the funds are withheld. The concept of conditionality was introduced in a 1952 Executive Board decision, conditionality is associated with economic theory as well as an enforcement mechanism for repayment
38.
Council of the European Union
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The Council of the European Union is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union as listed in the Treaty on European Union. It is part of the essentially bicameral EU legislature and represents the governments of the EUs member states. It is based in the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels, Belgium, the Council meets in 10 different configurations of 28 national ministers. The continuity between presidencies is provided by an arrangement under which three successive presidencies, known as Presidency trios, share common political programmes, the Foreign Affairs Council is however chaired by the Unions High Representative. Its decisions are made by qualified majority voting in most areas, usually where it operates unanimously, it only needs to consult the Parliament. In a few limited areas the Council may initiate new EU law itself, the Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union. The Secretariat is divided into seven directorates-general, each administered by a director-general, the Council first appeared in the European Coal and Steel Community as the Special Council of Ministers, set up to counterbalance the High Authority. The original Council had limited powers, issues relating only to coal and steel were in the Authoritys domain, as a whole, the Council only scrutinised the High Authority. In 1957, the Treaties of Rome established two new communities, and with two new Councils, the Council of the European Atomic Energy Community and the Council of the European Economic Community. However, due to objections over the power of the Authority, their Councils had more powers. In 1965 the Council was hit by the empty chair crisis, due to disagreements between French President Charles de Gaulle and the Commissions agriculture proposals, among other things, France boycotted all meetings of the Council. This halted the Councils work until the impasse was resolved the following year by the Luxembourg compromise, although initiated by a gamble of the President of the Commission, Walter Hallstein, who later on lost the Presidency, the crisis exposed flaws in the Councils workings. In 1993, the Council adopted the name Council of the European Union and that treaty strengthened the Council, with the addition of more intergovernmental elements in the three pillars system. However, at the time the Parliament and Commission had been strengthened inside the Community pillar. The Treaty of Lisbon abolished the system and gave further powers to Parliament. It also merged the Councils High Representative with the Commissions foreign policy head, the development of the Council has been characterised by the rise in power of the Parliament, with which the Council has had to share its legislative powers. The Parliament has often provided opposition to the Councils wishes and this has in some cases led to clashes between both bodies with the Councils system of intergovernmentalism contradicting the developing parliamentary system and supranational principles. The primary purpose of the Council is to act as one of the two chambers of the EUs legislative branch, the chamber being the European Parliament
Algeria
Cape Verde
Egypt
Guinea-Bissau
Morocco
Nigeria
South Africa
Argentina
Belize
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Cuba
Ecuador
Guyana
Mexico
Peru
United States
Uruguay
Armenia
Azerbaijan
China
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Japan
Kazakhstan
Malaysia
Mongolia
North Korea
Pakistan
South Korea
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Vietnam
Albania
Austria
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Denmark
France
Germany
Ireland
Italy
Kosovo
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Moldova
Montenegro
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Australia
New Zealand
