Social partners may have greater input in parliament

Following an initiative from the MGYOSZ employers' confederation in January 2004, it appears that the Hungarian social partners are likely to be granted the opportunity to have a regular say in parliamentary committee meetings and plenary sessions.

The Confederation of Hungarian Employers and Industrialists (Munkaadók és Gyáriparosok Országos Szövetsége, MGYOSZ) invited the speaker of the Hungarian parliament (Országgyűlés) to participate at a meeting of its presidency on 28 January 2004. The aim was to find a solution to ensure that members of parliament better understand the concerns of entrepreneurs and employers. According to the president of MGYOSZ, Hungary's largest employers’ confederation, the existing channels of social dialogue are not providing an appropriate forum to convey the concerns of employers’ associations to political decision-makers participating in the work of parliament and its committees. Following the meeting, the speaker of parliament pledged to propose an amendment of the Parliamentary Law to make it mandatory to hear the opinion of employers’ associations in parliament's committees and plenary sessions on any issue concerning the functioning of the economy. She added that she would also commence consultations with trade unions to make sure their voice is heard equally in parliament.

Commenting on the employers' initiative, the president of the National Association of Hungarian Trade Unions (Magyar Szakszervezetek Országos Szövetsége, MSZOSZ), the country's largest trade union confederation, welcomed the idea of regular involvement of the social partners in the parliamentary meetings while criticising the effectiveness of the traditional institutions of social dialogue.

So far, no further details of the initiative have been disclosed, and it is still unclear whether the invitation to be heard in parliament will be confined to social partner confederations represented on the National Interest Reconciliation Council (Országos Érdekegyeztető Tanács, OÉT) (HU0209101N), or if sectoral organisations would also be invited when they are affected by an issue on the agenda.