Characteristics of Approval Procedure for EGTC Membership in Hungary and the Practice of Approval Authorities By Dr. Ernő Csonka Deputy State Secretary for Territorial Public Administration and Elections Ministry of Public Administration and Justice

2 Regulation of the Approval Procedure in Hungary and in the EU European legal background: Regulation (EC) No. 1082/2006 on a European grouping of territorial co- operation; Article 4 Candidates notify about their intention to participate the member state in which the territorial co- operation is registered. Within 3 months after the notification, the candidate country is approved – except for not meeting the requirements of the Regulation, of the national law, or the participation is not justified on the basis of the candidate’s public interest or its law or public order. During the process of the judgement, relevant national law is applied by member states, and the authorities which pass the decision are appointed. Hungarian legal background: Act No. XCIX of 2007 on the European grouping of territorial co-operation Amended in December, 2010, in order to shorten the process of registration, keep deadlines and rename the grouping in Hungarian language. Application for membership approval must be submitted to the minister in charge for the public administration (i. e. the Minister of Public Administration and Justice), instead of the Budapest Metropolitan Court the former approval authority.

3 The content of the application: intended name of the EGTC co-operation; Seat of grouping; objectives and responsibilities. Must be attached as follows: the draft agreement and statutes, countersigned bylegal representative, and authentic Hungarian translations; consent of superior organization. Time limit for the examination of applications: 30 days. Typical mistakes during the process: signatures on the members in the statute and the agreement are missing; statutes and agreements are not countersigned by legal representative; terms of assignment of the officials are not set, neither the expiration of the positions; in case an EGTC co-operation is meant to be considered of pubic benefit, the statutory provisions of the law on public benefit organizations have to be met; mistranslations. Supplying a deficiency: maximum of 10 days, which can be extended by additional 10 days. Legal remedy: Budapest Metropolitan Court. Approvals are registered by the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice: data are accessible, even via internet; contains: the name and seat of grouping of approved applicant, name and seat of the EGTC; objectives and responsabilities of the EGTC; the date of the application for an approval order becoming final. In case of meeting all the requirements of the laws and the co-operation is registered by the Budapest Metropolitan Court. This court keeps a record of EGTCs.

4 An Overview in the Member States The Section of Cross-Border Cooperations for Territorial Public Administration of the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice surveyed the experiences and problems of the legislative processes of the approval authorities in the member states. Examined issues:  Deadline of approval : (in most of the cases) 3 months (except for Flanders, Romania, Luxemburg)  Approval authority: mainly ministries  Giving preliminary opinion: approval after the accordance or opinion of a number of institutions, (Commission gives opinion: Cyprus, Greece) can be issued – obligatory  Intervention of a community authority in the process of foundation: not supported (exceptions: Germany, know-how and information)  Automatic approval (expiration of 3 months): not supported, fear of losing the member states’ guarantees  Legal remedy (ultimate decision-maker: European Court of Justice): not supported (exception: Austria and Slovenia; possibilities for legal remedies are time-consuming, recommending a more simple proceedings)  Simplification of the process of accession: variant opinions, mainly supported  Community guide for EU member states on the application of the Regulation: variant opinions, mainly supported

5 Proposals on a smoother co-operation of approval authorities. - creating an information service; - up-to-date database on the approval authorities managed by the Committee of the Regions, (database of the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice on the Hungarian EGTC website: – with English version) - further simplification of the regulations, - learning good practice, - creating information handbook, - creating the Network of National Approval Authorities, coordinated by the Committee of the Regions. Special thanks to the approval authorities of the member states for the contribution to our survey!

6 Thank you for your attention! Dr. Ernő Csonka Deputy State Secretary