After consultations with the European Commission, the government submitted the first package of legal amendments related to the conditionality procedure to the Parliament on Monday.
The package of laws submitted by Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, which can be read on the parliament's website, and whose rapporteur is Judit Varga, Minister of Justice, is related to the cooperation of the financial watchdog with the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and amends the legislation on public interest trust foundations performing public tasks.
According to the general justification, the amendment of the law related to the accession to the European Union creates the conditions for the use of the financial watchdog measure.
In connection with this, by amending the Act on the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV), it would become the duty of the financial inspectorate to support the on-site inspection of OLAF's investigation. A new chapter contains special rules for fiscal measures, which allow OLAF investigators to enter the premises affected by the investigation or any other area used for business purposes together with fiscal agents.
Among other things, it is included in the proposal that the financial inspectors support the smooth conduct of the investigation with on-site security, so that the OLAF inspectors have access to the necessary documents and data carriers and are protected against possible physical resistance.
In addition, the amendment to the law also enables NAV to impose a dissuasive administrative fine of one million forints if someone does not comply with the obligation to cooperate.
The proposal is also aimed at strengthening the fundamental requirements for the operation of the organizations, such as integrity and the use of transparent and fair contracting procedures, in public procurement and conflict of interest rules for public interest trust foundations performing a public task.
In addition, the conflict of interest rules related to public interest trust foundations performing a public task are clarified, supplemented by the legal formulation of the conflict of interest rules in line with the 2018 EU budget decree and the related guidelines of the European Commission - the justification for the amendment of the law states.
Territorial Development Minister Tibor Navracsics announced on Sunday that the government will submit the legislative amendment proposals containing the Hungarian government's commitments to the Parliament on Monday and Friday.
Source: MTI
Photo: parlament.hu
