Magyars hungry for EU

THE Hungarians are reputed to be the best integrated of all the Central and Eastern European countries when it comes to the EU.

They certainly top the league of those willing to vote yes to join.

Often said to be the perfect mix between the Germans and the Italians, Hungarians move easily in the corridors of the European Union where like the other candidates they are negotiating their entry for the past three years.

When it comes to national stereotypes they are said to be like the Kerryman: walk into the revolving door behind you and come out ahead. It is said you can add them to the Scottish jokes when it comes to paying they tend to be interested in who is paying and are shy about doing so themselves.

They are also said to have big chips on both shoulders, feeling they were badly treated by both the West and the Soviets in the 20th century. They had an easier time under the Russians than many other countries because they had the same relatively benign ruler for 30 years who operated a Magyar-type Soviet. They managed to keep their middle class during those classless years and almost had an operational nobility easily recognised by the "y" at the end of their name.

While in Brussels they can certainly talk the talk. Some would question if they can walk the walk so well, but the figures show how successful they have been in making their transition from a planned economy to attracting one of the highest totals of per capita investment since 1991 and currently with 76% of their trade and 52% of investment coming from the EU countries. The old heavy Soviet-style dinosaur industries such as steel are now long gone and are being replaced with more modern IT jobs. Their Small and Medium Enterprises have been generally lagging behind but there are signs they are beginning to catch up now.

However they have hastily to devise a new package of incentives for attracting foreign investment, as their current set are out of line with EU requirements, and they failed to resolve the problem at a meeting in Brussels on October 1. They have been slow to change this, hoping to attract whatever they can with the 10-year tax-free package for major industries. However, at this stage potential investors are waiting to see what the new incentives will be because they must be agreed by mid-December with the EU.

Like many of the former Soviet satellites they have had problems with corruption and while the new EU standard legislation has been adopted, it is not always implemented. Over the past few years they have made efforts to clean up, especially in the police force where large numbers of policemen have been fired over the past few years.

As in most of the other candidate countries, agriculture is a problem. Ten years ago people were allowed to reclaim their family farms from the Soviet collectives and, as a result, the country now has a massive three million landowners. Currently about 6% of the labour force is in agriculture but this is expected to decrease and come closer to the EU average of 3%.

Unlike many other countries, almost everyone lives in villages rather than on their land. So not surprisingly, agreement on agriculture subsidies and quotas is seen as essential to membership of the EU.