Budapest, October 22, 2003

On October 20 an open discussion was held for around 300 interested participants in the club of the University of All Knowledge on the theme of "EU statutory legislation in Hungary".

The lecturers at the meeting were Mr. János Martonyi former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Péter Balázs Ambassador accredited to the EU, the discussion was moderated by Tibor Palánkai chairman of the Board of Trustees of the EU Communications Fund. After a brief introduction the lecturers responded to the questions of the participants.

Mr. János Martonyi pointed out how two opposed principles – the rights of the member states and the authority of the community – prevail in the European Union by countervailing each other’s effect. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs found the text of the constitution appropriate despite its faults, still, he did not want to make forecasts, he thought that the success or failure of the document would be assessed in ten years’ time at the University of All Knowledge.

Mr. Péter Balázs who took over the role of Mr. János Martonyi in the work of the EU Convent, tried to outline how an organization with twenty management bodies can operate efficiently, and how this structure of increasing complexity can handle the debates of big and small parties.

The participants devoted special attention to the issue of interpretation of equalities and inequalities of the parties in the organization taking shape, and to the issue of how far the process of federation can go, and how the members of the different bodies are selected. As over 8000 candidates submitted applications for the Hungarian positions advertised by the EU, we can state that the management tasks of the united Europe represent a very attractive challenge to many of us.