A joint roundtable discussion entitled Assessment of the Current Situation and Future Potentials of the European Semester from the Aspect of Organized Civil Society was held by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Hungarian Economic Association on Friday, 28 June 2019 in the HEA Community Centre in Budapest.
The participants were greeted by Etele Baráth, Member of the European Economic and Social Committee, President of the Development Policy Section of the HEA, followed by Liliána Zúgó, economic analyst of the European Commission Representation in Hungary for the European Semester, presenting the process of the European Semester and the 2019 country specific recommendations for Hungary.
Following the introduction the keynote presentations were delivered by László Balogh, Deputy Secretary of State of the Ministry of Finance for Fiscal Policy; Gyula Pleschinger, President of the Hungarian Economic Association, Member of the Monetary Council; Éva Palócz, CEO of Kopint-Tárki Zrt, Vice President of the HEA; András Vértes, President of GKI Gazdaságkutató Zrt; and András Lukács, President of the Clean Air Action Group. The participants included, among others, the representatives of the major trade union associations, the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, as well as the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
In his speech Gyula Pleschinger recalled that it was not the first joint event organized by the EESC and the HEA: in November 2017 an international conference on the future of the European Union was held at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The President of the HEA added: the Association will be happy to host professional discussions on EU documents and country reports related to economic issues in the future as well.