On December 7, 2016, the OGP Steering Committee received a letter from the Government of Hungary announcing its immediate withdrawal from the partnership. The Government of Hungary had been under review by OGP since July 2015 for concerns raised by civil society organizations regarding their space to operate in the country.
Hungary’s letter of withdrawal:
Dear Members of the Steering Corrunittee,
Hungary joined the Open Government Parb1ership (hereafter referred to as OGP) among the first countries soon after it was launched in 2012, and has been actively participating in its work ever since. Two national action plans have been developed in a timely manner, in accordance with the relevant OGP guideline, with the active participation of civil organizations and following broad public consultations. The action plans were adopted by our government with real commitment, as an integral part of our efforts to promote open governance, public participation and integrity in public administration.
Hungary remains deeply corrunitted to the purposes of the Partnership. We believe that open and effective governance, transparency, civic participation in public affairs, and the fight against corruption are all indispensable pillars of democracy and good governance. Therefore, Hungary has always considered its membership in OGP as an opportunity to strengthen and complete its efforts towards achieving these goals.
With reference to the OGP Response Policy procedure conducted against Hungary since 2015, Hungary engaged in a constructive manner in giving accurate and detailed response to the complaints received. Therefore, it was with regret that we saw that the final OGP report released this year did not reflect the considerations provided by Hungary, and that the report was not adopted as a result of a meaningful dialogue, where the perspective of all sides are taken into account. Thus the recommendations of OGP are unsubstantiated and intrusive in their nature. We consider that this procedure is not a constructive and adequate way of addressing the issues that OGP originally was established for.
For all these reasons, I would like to inform you that Hungary is not in the position to maintain its membership in the Open Government Partnership, and therefore would like to withdraw from the initiative. Consequently, I would also like to inform you that Hungary will not be represented at the OGP Summit to be held in December in Paris.
Meanwhile, Hungary remains committed to the principles set out above. We are open and ready for constructive dialogue on promoting transparent, participatory and good governance in all platforms that ensure the respect of all viewpoints and build on the input provided by the parties concerned.
Let me assure you of my highest consideration.
# # #
The following text was contributed by the Government of Hungary July 10, 2012.
The Government attaches utmost importance to the cooperation with civil organizations. The active and broad participation of civil organizations and citizens in drafting Hungary’s first national action plan was assured by several Working Group sessions, the consultation with civil organizations prior to it, and the general public consultation before its final approval. This long, multiple-round consultation process, allowing for personal and also written contributions, resulted in commitments promoting open governance, public participation and integrity in public administration.
Many of the commitments made, were initially recommended by civil organizations. The commitments are a part of a comprehensive anti-corruption program launched in 2012 entitled Corruption Prevention Program in Public Administration. This puts the commitments into a broad strategic framework, ensuring the necessary financial and organizational background for the implementation and the harmony with other related measures adopted by the Government. Hungary’s commitments on open governance are primarily linked to the improvement of the integrity of public administration agencies but they also touch on the fields of improving the quality of public services and improving the efficiency of using community resources.
The Ministry of Public Administration and Justice supporting the effective implementation of the OGP commitments holds in-person consultations with the civil organizations and experts regularly on a monthly basis. These monthly consultations give an opportunity to civil stakeholders to get up-to-date and accurate information, articulate their opinion and provide the Ministry with further suggestions.
Hungary’s Letter of Intent to Join OGP:
In order to provide better information to citizens about fiscal issues, Hungary undertakes to
present the data of the draft central budget and its amendments as well as the actually implemented budget through figures and charts as well, broken down to items according to Level 2 of the COFOG (Classification of the Functions of Government) developed by the United Nations.
In order to secure the publicity of public procurement data, Hungary undertakes to ensure that public procurement announcements and communications (data published in relation to public procurement tenders in an official journal or on a central state website for public procurement tenders as required by statutory provisions) are disclosed in a way that every single contractor (except for the case of legal succession) is allocated a permanent unique identification code and every single public procurement procedure is allocated a unique identification code that is permanent in the given procedure. This will make it easier to search and query any disclosed public procurement document based on the unique identification code of the agency or procedure in question.
In order to improve the publicity of contracts concluded for the utilisation of public property and with the use of public funds, Hungary undertakes to provide for the following even through legislative amendments, if necessary:
a) the examinations of independent and governmental state organs authorised to carry out compliance checks should always extend to compliance with disclosure obligations;
b) experience gained concerning the implementation of the Public Procurement Act as well the rules of national and community budgetary financial assistance should be reviewed, with special respect to compliance with statutory provisions on the freedom of electronic information and paying special attention to the form and content of the eventual further increase of publicity;
c) the utilisation of local government property and procurements should be discussed in open meetings, except for meetings convened for the evaluation of tender procedure results where the bidder or applicant excluded the disclosure of part of its application because it qualifies as business secret which relates to its own activities but does not relate to substantial elements of the contract to be concluded, or if an open meeting would breach secrecy of a business company owned by the local government;
d) public motions by local government bodies should be disclosed on the local government’s website after sending out the invitations and together with such invitations.
a) Hungary undertakes to ensure the participation of public sector organisations and state-owned business companies in the Integrity Survey of the State Audit Office.
b) Hungary undertakes to introduce an integrity control system into the central public administration.
c) Hungary undertakes to create the institutional system for the protection of whistleblowers.
d) Hungary undertakes to determine the rules of keeping contact between state organs and interest representation groups.
e) Hungary undertakes to ensure the pre-decision analysis of corruption risks of motions to be discussed by the Government and draft ministerial decrees, within the framework of a preliminary impact assessment.
f) Hungary undertakes to prepare Codes of Professional Conduct for government officials and law and order personnel in a form approved by competent public corporations independent from the Government.
a) Hungary undertakes to provide training for public officials in the topics of integrity, anti-corruption and ethics.
b) Hungary undertakes to provide, within the training system of state organs, trainings elements for public administration, local government and judicial sector workers on the freedom of information which also give a clear guideline for the independent, proactive disclosure of data of public interest.
c) Hungary undertakes to launch a credible, transparent, cost-efficient awareness raising campaign which builds on the involvement of citizens and NGOs and provides information differentiated by target groups, in order to increase the knowledge and consciousness of members of society about corruption phenomena as well as the attitudes and counter-measures that may be applied against them.
d) Hungary undertakes to ensure that the values and knowledge relating to corruption phenomena as well as the attitudes and counter-measures that may be applied against them are incorporated in school education, including the revision of course books in this topic and amplifying them with anti-corruption information.
The general rules on the obligation to disclose certain data of public interest and data public on grounds of public interest processed by bodies with public service functions are laid down in Act CXII of 2011 on Informational Self-determination and Freedom of Information (Information Act). The regulation aims to ensure the freedom of information and facilitate the enforcement of the right to access and disseminate data of public interest and data public on grounds of public interest.
For the implementation of the above, bodies with public service functions shall facilitate that the general public is provided with accurate information in a prompt manner concerning the matters under their competence, such as the budgets of the central and municipal governments and the implementation thereof, the management of assets controlled by the central and municipal governments, the appropriation of public funds, and special and exclusive rights conferred upon market actors, private organizations or individuals. Under the Information Act, bodies with public service functions shall make available public information specified in the Standard Disclosure List of the Act on their websites. The Information Act also specifies the general legal consequences of failure to meet the disclosure obligation, according to which the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (NAIH) shall, upon request, conduct investigations into the reported infringement relating to exercising the rights of access to data public on grounds of public interest.
By virtue of the provisions of the Fundamental Law of Hungary and of Act CLXXXIX of 2011 on Local Governments in Hungary (hereafter referred to as Local Government Act), the Government performs the supervision of legal compliance of the operation of local governments through the Budapest and County Government Offices. These Offices monitor and where necessary take sanctions against local governments if problems noted in their operation and, within the framework specified in Local Government Act, may also take measures to make up for the failure to make certain decisions (Local Government Act Sections 132-142).
Based on the above, it can be concluded that the legal framework of the disclosure obligation related to data of public interest and data public on grounds of public interest is available. At the same time, a change in attitude and a renewal is necessary in order that local governments comply with regulations not in fear of potential sanctions but primarily because of their responsibility towards the community of citizens.
Enhancing the publication of local government decisions was already among the commitments made in the First OGP Action Plan, but the self-assessment report on its implementation, in accordance with the evaluation made in the IRM, concluded that the commitment was only partially implemented and therefore this task should be specified in greater detail and continued in the Second OGP Action Plan. In addition, the progress report established that, although local governments can have closed sessions in cases specified by the law, they interpreted this too broadly in the case of sessions on asset-related issues. The written motions for the public sessions of the council of municipal representatives and committees are often not accessible in an archived form before and after the sessions, which hinders citizens from learning about the background of the decisions.
Thus the requirements regarding genuine publicity and the related regulations should be summarised in a methodological guideline and be widely disseminated.
The methodological guideline aims to elaborate on and interpret the regulations included in the Information Act, focusing on practice, and provide guidance for local governments applying the law, including stimulating the utilisation of opportunities provided in Section 33 (3) of the Information Act on means of implementing their obligation of publication, with special recommendations tailor-made for local governments with limited resources. The methodological guideline should also include publication samples as well as provide guidance for the time of publication (calling attention to e.g. the obligation of the prior publication of agendas) and its format.
In order to present the methodological guideline and provide support for its application, workshops are to be organised enabling all local governments interested to participate. This means that at least seven workshops will have to be organised at the national level, i.e. one workshop per region (the regions being Northern Hungary, Northern Great Plain, Southern Great Plain, Central Hungary, Central Transdanubia, Western Transdanubia, Southern Transdanubia). Beyond supporting compliance with the publication obligation, the workshops aim to support attitude change and explore and share good practices.
By developing the guideline and implementing it on a broad scale, the content of the obligation of publication will become clearer, and compliance with it will be easier for local governments as well. The successful implementation of this commitment contributes to the development of public services and the more efficient use of public funds, in addition to which it strengthens – especially through providing in advance easy access to information related to local government decision making as provided by the law – the transparent and accountable operation of bodies with public service functions.
It was established in the Progress Report on the First OGP Action Plan that in Hungary the number of public organizations fully complying with the obligations on disclosure is low. Government offices, within the framework of their activity aimed to monitor the operation of local governments, continuously monitor compliance with the disclosure obligation, but a more efficient stimulation of those concerned is required. The written motions for public sessions of the municipal council and committees are often not accessible in an archived form before and after the sessions, which hinders citizens from learning about the background of decisions. To facilitate the compliance with the obligation of disclosure and ensure publicity, building on the experience of government offices gained during supervising legal compliance. To facilitate the compliance with the obligation of disclosure and ensure publicity, building on the experience of government offices gained during supervising legal compliance.
Enhancing the transparency of public finances is a key element of establishing transparent governance. In order to achieve this, the First OGP Action Plan included a commitment aimed at improving the publicity of budget data. According to the commitment, in order to better inform citizens on public finances, it was necessary to present the drafts on the central budget and its amendments as well as the actually implemented central budget both numerically and graphically following the COFOG level 2 classification (Classification of the Functions of Government) developed by the United Nations.
In order to fulfil this commitment, the former Ministry of Public Administration and Justice consulted with the Hungarian State Treasury and the Ministry of National Economy multiple times in 2013. Based on the consultations, the organizations concerned compiled the relevant data series and made them accessible, together with information and descriptions facilitating its interpretation, on the website http://www.allamkincstar.gov.hu/kincstar/funkcionalis_merlegek. The data are presented in editable, numerical and graphical ways on the website.
The progress report on the First OGP Action Plan and the feedback from civil society organizations both regarded this commitment as an important and genuine advance. However, at the same time, they noted that the format of the data included in the online database on budget expenditures made it cumbersome to perform policy analyses, the timeliness of the data was not ensured and the standard of their graphic display is not comprehensible enough.
Considering the above-mentioned, it is reasonable to improve the comprehensibility of the central budget data accessible online by ensuring the timeliness of the data and as good as possible compliance with the COFOG classification, as well as by raising the standard of graphic display, and thus meeting international standards.
Fulfilling this commitment will facilitate the development of public services by improving the usability and comprehensibility of the budget data published online, and the awareness raising of citizens attainable by the former will indirectly facilitate a more efficient management of public finances. The progress report on the First National OGP Action Plan established that the availability of the online data base on budget expenditure improved the accessibility of data; however, their format made it cumbersome to perform policy analyses, and the standard of their graphic display did not meet international standards. Keeping budget data up-to-date and developing their graphic display. Hungary undertakes to improve the online access to budget data and the readability of their graphic presentation.
“The First OGP Action Plan included as a commitment the development of the integrity management system and, within that, the development of a regulation on the communication and contact with third parties representing private interests (i.e. lobbyists).
The first law regulating interest representation in Hungary was Act XLIX of 2006 on Lobbying. The regulation was forward looking even compared to European standards, but at the same time its scope only covered professional lobbyists. Lacking genuine control, the provisions of the act were complied with to a lesser and lesser extent until the legislator finally decided to re-regulate this field based on a new approach.
Act CXXXI of 2010 on Social participation in the drafting of legislation (hereinafter: Act on Social Consultation) introduced direct consultations and thus created a new and broader forum for public participation in decision-making preparations [Article 7 (1) b)].
In order to regulate lobbying outside the legislation, Gov.Dec. 50/2013 (II. 25.) took effect in March 2013. The Decree established an integrity management system at public administration bodies and set rules for the contact with third parties representing private interests in order to increase transparency and consolidate the integrity management system. To ensure the transparency of lobbying, the new regulation obliges public administration bodies to keep records of meetings with interest representatives and, depending on the decision of the management, the presence of a third person (integrity advisor) may be required for these meetings [Article 10 (1-5)].
Even though these regulations constitute progress, there is a need to fill the legal gaps related to lobbying activities as well as to support the enforcement of the rules on contact with third parties representing private interests.
Based on the self-assessment report on the First OGP Action Plan, the regulation on communication and contact with third parties representing private interests was implemented to a limited extent. Therefore, it is important to elaborate a practical and comprehensive guideline supporting the compliance with the regulation in force. Within the framework of the guideline, the experience of the past two years of implementation of the regulation and the practical difficulties in its operation should be gathered. The guideline will have to be made accessible for the employees of the organizations concerned.
Gov. Decree 50/2013 (25 Feb) on the system of integrity management at public administration bodies and the procedural rules of receiving lobbyists took effect. It became necessary to publish a guideline supporting compliance with the regulation. The guideline will also review the practical experience related to the regulation.
To make communication with third parties representing private interests more transparent by supporting compliance with the relevant regulation.
Hungary undertakes to publish a guideline supporting compliance with the rules on contact with third parties representing private interests.
This commitment also facilitates the publicity of data of public interest and data public on grounds of public interest and thus dovetails with commitments 1 and 7 regarding both its legal background and objectives.
The availability of up-to-date information on the regulation on the freedom of information is essential for bodies with public service functions so that they can efficiently meet their obligations under the law.
Accordingly, the First OGP Action Plan included the development of training elements on the freedom of information as a commitment. In order to fulfil the commitment, the National University of Public Service, with experts from the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information involved, prepared a draft curriculum. At the same time, as it was pointed out by both the self-assessment and the progress reports, the training based on the draft curriculum has not been launched; thus the commitment has only been partially implemented and therefore it should be continued in the Second Action Plan.
During the implementation of this commitment, it is reasonable to review the curriculum already developed and adjust it to the amendments in the legislation made since (e.g. in the field of re-using public sector information), with the involvement of civil society organizations and experts having an outstanding role in this field. Furthermore, it is necessary to register the reviewed curriculum in the form of an e-learning training as a “public service further training program”. The curriculum of the e-learning training is to be published on a website on corruption prevention, so it will be accessible not only for the employees of public administration bodies and local governments having access to the further training programs offered by the National University of Public Service, but for anyone else as well.
Including training elements related to the freedom of information in the training system of state organizations is expected to raise awareness of freedom of information, promote the compliance with the regulations amongst the officials concerned, and also facilitate meeting the requirements on publication of data of public interest, and thus improve the publicity of data of public interest.
At the OGP summit in autumn 2013 in London, Hungary announced to make a complementary commitment related to its OGP membership, to be incorporated in the next national action plan. One of these commitments made aimed at making the integrity training programs launched in 2013open to citizens and civil organisations organizations interested. In the course of 2013 and 2014, several training sessions with external participants involved took place. The current commitment is the strengthening and complementation of the earlier one.
To spread the integrity attitude by involving citizens and raising the knowledge of local government employees on corruption prevention.
Hungary undertakes to develop a training package on corruption prevention and integrity for citizens and local governments. The training package for citizens is to be published for further free use and the one for local governments is to be presented at least seven sample training sessions at the national level, organised regionally
Efficient actions against corruption can only be taken if the attitudes of both citizens and experts change. To facilitate this, it is essential to disseminate information on the phenomenon of corruption, on corruption risks and on the avoidance of corruption situations, to create an organizational culture that resists corruption, to raise awareness among citizens and to strengthen the public trust in the clean operation of the public sector.
At the OGP summit in London in autumn 2013, Hungary made the promise, as a complementary commitment, to make the integrity training programs launched in 2013 open to interested citizens and civil society organizations and to incorporate this commitment in its Second OGP Action Plan.
In the course of 2013 and 2014, several training programs involving external participants took place. The current commitment is the strengthening and complementation of the earlier one with the view to facilitate the new attitude gaining ground among citizens and local governments to the greatest possible extent. In order to strengthen citizens’ trust in public administration organizations and local governments, it is important that both citizens and local governments be informed of the importance of corruption prevention and the integrity-based attitude.
In order to facilitate the former, there is a need, on the one hand, for a training package on corruption prevention and integrity for citizens, which is later to be made accessible for further free use. On the other hand, there is a need for another training package addressed to local governments, which is to be introduced to them through pilot training sessions. To ensure nationwide coverage, at least seven pilot training sessions, one per region, shall be organised. Involving civil society organizations in the training may contribute to the efficient implementation of the commitment and will, at the same time, offer space for sharing experience.
At the OGP summit in autumn 2013 in London, Hungary announced to make a complementary commitment related to its OGP membership, to be incorporated in the next national action plan. One of these commitments made aimed at making the integrity training programs launched in 2013open to citizens and civil organisations organizations interested. In the course of 2013 and 2014, several training sessions with external participants involved took place. The current commitment is the strengthening and complementation of the earlier one.
To spread the integrity attitude by involving citizens and raising the knowledge of local government employees on corruption prevention.
Hungary undertakes to develop a training package on corruption prevention and integrity for citizens and local governments. The training package for citizens is to be published for further free use and the one for local governments is to be presented at least seven sample training sessions at the national level, organised regionally
The legal framework for public consultation regarding the preparation of legislations and strategies is already established in Hungary. According to the provisions of the Act on Social Consultation and Government Decree 38/2012 (12 March) on Government Strategic Management, all draft legislation and draft concept papers prepared by ministries must be made accessible for general consultations in a way that, as a main rule, the deadline for public consultation should equal the deadline set for consultations with public administration organizations.
Meeting the set deadline often fails in practice, and although the drafts are available on the government portal that serves as the online forum of consultation, the opinions and comments received are not, and a link providing directing access to the summaries evaluating the opinions and comments made by members of society is missing, too, which makes availability and searchability of the opinions and comments received difficult.
Setting up a user-friendly electronic platform for public consultation ensures better compliance with the relevant regulation in force, and thereby raises the standard of the work of ministries preparing the drafts; furthermore, by proactively involving citizens, makes communication with them more efficient.
The website to be set up would include detailed and easily understandable general information on the regulation on public consultation, on the consultation process and what will happen with the comments and opinions received. The website would also indicate the date when the given draft was uploaded, the deadline set for public consultation and would make the summaries on the comments received accessible in a clear and easy-to-search way. In order to enhance the service providing character of the state, the website would be complemented with a function enabling registered citizens to mark fields of special interest for them (e.g. health care, rural development, law enforcement) and the system would generate automatic email messages notifying them if any draft bills, strategic drafts or summaries were published on these issues.
When planning the implementation of this commitment, the later integration of further developments based on the experience to be gained from setting up the website (e.g. solutions for interactivity, the application of open standards, etc.) should be kept in mind.
Act CXXXI of 2010 on Social participation in the drafting of legislation and Government Decree 38/2012 (12 March) on Government Strategic Management provide a suitable legal framework for public consultation during preparing legislation and strategic planning. Compliance with the provisions of the applicable regulations sometimes fails in practice, and often there is less time than prescribed for public consultation. The standardised summary made on the rejected comments and the reasons for their rejection are not always published.
To support public consultation and make it more efficient and interactive.
Hungary undertakes to develop a website supporting public consultation on legislative and strategic drafts
The commitment is related to the first commitment since it aims to improve the publicity of data of public interest and data public on grounds of public interest in accordance with the principles of the Information Act.
Improving the searchability of local government decisions was included among the commitments of the First OGP Action Plan already, but it was established in the self-assessment report that the commitment was implemented only to a limited extent. The progress report on Hungary established that the great majority of Hungarian local governments did not comply with the publicity obligation and the information published was often of bad quality and not searchable by IT means due to their format. Therefore, in addition to the methodological guideline outlined in the first commitment and having regard to the time and experience necessary for the preparation of efficient developments, it is reasonable to launch a pilot project in order to explore efficient and user friendly IT development opportunities.
The pilot project aims to examine the application of open source software developed for the machine processing of legal and public administration documents, which has worked well internationally (the software that has become known under the name “Akoma Ntoso”, meaning “linked hearts” in the Akan language of West-Africa, converts information from various surfaces into easy to process .xml format).
In the first phase of the pilot project, theoretical and practical information on the software is collected, to be followed by exploring the opportunities and conditions of its wide-scale application in Hungary, and finally the experience of the pilot project will be summarized. Voluntary participation in the pilot project must be made possible to all interested local governments and state organizations.
If the first phase of the pilot project brings positive results, it is to be examined in the second phase of the project if the software can be used for the improvement of state records (e.g. the National Legislative Database). Within the National Legislative Database, for example, there is a closed system IT surface serving to make the data transfer and bilateral communication between local governments and the Budapest and county government offices exercising the legislative supervision over the former easier and more efficient.
It is a considerable challenge for local governments in Hungary to manage data of public interest and to provide access to these. A further problem is posed by the quality of their publication, which is performed in formats not readable by electronic devices.
To improve access to the information and data content of local government documents.
Hungary undertakes to examine, within the framework of a pilot project, the possibility of introducing an open source software developed for the machine processing of legal and public administration documents.
As the use of smart phones has become widespread, a growing number of organizations with public service functions have developed mobile phone applications providing easy access and fast information to users. Making use of modern technology, the police can also improve their relations with the public to a great extent, especially among the younger generation who are the most vulnerable to crimes. With the help of mobile phone applications (e.g. „rendőraközelben”, i.e. “policeman nearby”) the nearest police headquarters, police station or
district officer’s office and their contact details can be easily found by
GPS coordinates. Practical information will also be available for the witnesses and victims of crimes through an appropriate menu structure, e.g. under the menu items “my wallet has been stolen” or “my car has been stolen”, citizens can find information on the steps to be taken. Furthermore, if crime is noticed and the perpetrators are photographed or filmed and these recordings are shared with the police immediately, the efficiency of the investigation can be enhanced.
On the whole, the application to be developed is to facilitate better communication between citizens and the police as service providers.
As the use of smart phones has become widespread, a growing number of organizations with public service functions have developed mobile phone applications providing easy access and fast information to users. The police do not have such means at the moment even though the use of smart phones is almost general among the younger generation who are most vulnerable to crime.
To facilitate access to public services by means of mobile phone applications.
Hungary undertakes to develop a mobile phone application facilitating communication with the police.
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