Legal accessibility 2. – CESCI Budapest

1. Harmonization of EGTC-legislation

Hungary is a leading student in the EU’s EGTC policy. From the 64 groupings that were registered until the end of 2016, 23 groupings have Hungarian membership and the headquarters of 19 groupings are located in our country. Although, we cannot consider that all the EGTCs do high quality work, but they totally implemented a development of 24 million euros in the border regions between 2008, when the first EGTC was established, and 2015, partly due to the government’s supportive policy. In many cases, they effectively contribute to alleviate the separating effects of nation-state borders.

Hungary was the first country that helped to establish the first association within the Union that has a non-EU member country, namely the Tisza EGTC (established by the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Council, city of Kisvárda and the Zakarpattia Oblast). That means there is only Serbia, from the neighbouring seven countries, where the necessary legal background is not available to establish this kind of association. Serbia ratified the Framework Convention of Madrid in the early 2016 (among the last members of the Council of Europe); however, framing up of the implementation rules are delayed.

Hungarian experiences, the Hungarian model could significantly help to our southern neighbour in order to make the missing steps, thus allowing to build Serbian relationships of the already established Banat-Triplex Confinium and the EGTCs that will be established in the future.

Therefore, in the framework of the project we will initiate the development of the necessary legislative background and its delivery to the Serbian authorities. Implementation is helped that CESCI Balkans, as the initiative of our Association, was established in 2015 with headquarter in Novi Sad. CESCI Balkans performs its activities in professional relationship with the ministries in Belgrade.

Planned activities of the project element:

exploring and analysing the Serbian legal environment and legislation that ratified the Framework Convention of Madrid;
consultation about the legislation on implementation with the competent Serbian authorities;
organization of an international conference about the EGTC regulation and its Hungarian applications in Belgrade;
to elaborate a legislative proposal in order to implement the EGTC regulation in Serbia.

Results / Harmonization of EGTC-legislation (2nd milestone)

The study (Harmonization of EGTC-legislation) prepared in the frames of this subproject can be downloaded by clicking on the picture below.

Results of the subproject were summarized in the following points. Click on the text for details.

Objective of the subproject

The subproject contains the following objectives:

exploratory study about the Serbian legislation ratifying the Madrid Convention;
organization of an international conference on the EGTC in Serbia;
elaboration of a legislative proposal for applicability of the EGTC Regulation in Serbia;
consultation with the competent Serbian authorities on the implementing legislation.

Presentation of the activities that were implemented within the frame of the subproject

1. Study on exploring and analysing the Serbian legislation and its environment ratifying the Madrid Convention

The Balkan office of the Central European Service for Cross-Border Initiatives elaborated a study about Legal Accessibility. The title of the study, Legal Accessibility. Serbia’s Participation in European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) and Euroregional Cooperation Grouping (ECG). During the preparation of the study, experts of the CESCI Balkans made coordination with the Serbian government institutions, with the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, and with the Ministry of European Integration.

The study analysed those possibilities that are offered by the Madrid Convention for Serbia, the territorial policy of the European Union, cross-border structures located in the Balkans, or the authors gave recommendations, solutions for applying EGTC and ECG.

Goal of the Madrid Convention is to encourage and facilitate cross-border agreements between local and regional authorities within their spheres of competences. The three protocols, supplementing the Convention, help to develop new cooperation, including also the transnational level, and to define the legal status, creation and operation of Euroregional Cooperation Groups (ECGs).

The study mentions the European Union’s regional policy, with particular reference to European territorial cooperation and cross-border cooperation programs. In a separate chapter, the study deals with cross-border structures and cooperation in the Balkans, and at the same times it maps their most important activities and projects. Unfortunately, only 7 of the 26 Euroregions in the Balkans can be considered as active on the basis of the methodology of the study (based on the activities of the last 12 months).

*Cross-border cooperation in the Balkans*

Currently, the entities of the Republic of Serbia cannot participate in EGTC and ECG as full members. Serbia ratified the Madrid Convention in the beginning of 2016; subsequently, there is no formal obstacle, on the basis of the EU regulation, that the entities of the EU Member States establish EGTC with the Serbian entities. Two possible solutions are described in the relevant chapter of this study:

the Serbian Government creates and accepts an implementing legislation that regulates the licensing process of membership and the conditions of governmental institutions and local / regional authorities for participating in such associations;
or Serbia and the concerned Government of the Member State sign a bilateral agreement about the issues described above.

Finally, the study proposes the establishment of ECGs with Serbian participation, and it specifies the details of the founding process.

2. Legislative proposal for the applicability of the EGTC Regulation in Serbia

Within the frames of the project, a proposal was developed for the EGTC legal harmonization process in Serbia. The proposal includes all the elements that may be relevant for the licensing process of the membership, or the rules regulating the conditions of participation of actors; provisions on establishment and organs, financial and economic activities, supervision and control of EGTC, or rules relating to the conditions of termination.

The legislative proposal defines the Serbian name of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation, its possible membership and the competent state authority, the Ministry which is responsible for registration.

The proposal was intended to get before to the Serbian Government after coordination with the competent ministries (Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, as well as Ministry of European Integration).

3. Organization of an international conference on the EGTC Regulation

An international conference was organised with title, New opportunities of cross-border cooperation in the Balkans, on 20^th of November, 2017. The conference was organised by the Balkans office of the Central European Service for Cross-Border Initiatives in Novi Sad, in the Parliament of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina.

The aim of the international conference was to promote cross-border cooperation in Serbia that has been preparing for the EU accession, to call the attention of the Serbian decision-makers to the potentials of institutional cooperation and to encourage these decision-makers to adopt the necessary legislation.

The first panel was about those legal instruments that were established by the Council of Europe and by the institutions of the European Union. The Madrid Convention and its offered possibilities were mentioned. Then, good examples were presented by the concerned representatives and experts within the second panel. The final panel included the possibilities of Serbia relating to the development of border regions, which can be implemented through proven legal instruments.

It was expressed at the conference that it is important to pay attention to the fact that regions, municipalities and settlements can participate in cross-border regional cooperation.

Almost 150 people participated at the conference, especially the leaders and the representatives of municipalities, the representatives of the institutions in the neighbouring countries and different organizations were present. The conference was opened by István Pásztor, President of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The speakers of the conference were the following ones: Hajnalka Juhász, Head of the Ministerial Cabinet, Ministry of Justice, Hungary; Slobodan Vukčević, Ambassador of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia; Tim Cartwright, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade; Martín Guillermo Ramírez, General Secretary of the Association of European Border Regions; Slaven Klobučar, EGTC Platform Coordinator of the Committee of the Regions; Patrícia Abaffy, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary; Yolanda Puiggrós Jiménez de Anta, Legal expert of Roca Junyent; Zoltán Bara, Director of the Slovakian Pons Danubii EGTC; Ana Nikolov, Directress of the AEBR Balkans and Director of Planning, CESCI Balkans; Sanda Šimić, Ministry of European Integration of the Republic of Serbia; Gyula Ocskay, Secretary General of the Central European Service for Cross-Border Initiatives (CESCI) and Ervin Erős, Director of the CESCI Balkans.

Summary of the subproject results

The objectives of the subproject were successfully achieved. The analytical study, exploring the Serbian legislation that ratified the Madrid Convention, was prepared, international conference was organized with 144 participants and the most relevant speakers, lecturers were present. A legislative proposal was elaborated for the adaptation of the EGTC Regulation in Serbia. The process of EGTC legal harmonization with the relevant Serbian authorities was launched.

Fulfilment of the identified indicators of the subproject

Analysis of the Serbian EGTC legal environment: 1 analysis / 1 analysis
International conference on EGTC (Serbia): 1 conference / 1 conference
Number of participants at the EGTC conference: 60 persons / 144 persons
Legislative proposal: 1 proposal / 1 proposal

Possibilities for continuing the subproject

The first cross-border association with a member entity from third country was established in the EU, namely Tisza EGTC, and the seat of this association is in Hungary. Out of the seven neighbouring countries, only Serbia is the only one, where the necessary legal background is not available in order to establish such associations. Although, Serbia ratified the Madrid Convention (as one of the last Member State of the Council of Europe) in early 2016, but drafting of the implementation rules are delayed.

Primarily, the subproject was intended to launch the development of the necessary legislative background in Serbia. Given that the legislative proposal was completed, the CESCI Balkans office will continue the coordination with the relevant ministries, namely with the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, with the Ministry of European Integration and with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to get the legislative proposal to the Serbian Government after final consultations. This process has been supported since the beginning by the Council of Europe and by the Department of Economic Development of Border Aras of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade which is responsible for EGTCs. During 2018, the CESCI Balkans intends to put special emphasis on further steps of legislative harmonization in Serbia, as well as to promote the benefits of the EGTC. Subsequently, it launches a new initiative together with the Council of Europe in 2018, namely Leadership Academy for CBC.
Hungary was the first country that helped to establish the first association within the Union that has a non-EU member country, namely the Tisza EGTC (established by the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Council, city of Kisvárda and the Zakarpattia Oblast). That means there is only Serbia, from the neighbouring seven countries, where the necessary legal background is not available to establish this kind of association. Serbia ratified the Framework Convention of Madrid in the early 2016 (among the last members of the Council of Europe); however, framing up of the implementation rules are delayed.

Hungarian experiences, the Hungarian model could significantly help to our southern neighbour in order to make the missing steps, thus allowing to build Serbian relationships of the already established Banat-Triplex Confinium and the EGTCs that will be established in the future.

Therefore, in the framework of the project we will initiate the development of the necessary legislative background and its delivery to the Serbian authorities. Implementation is helped that CESCI Balkans, as the initiative of our Association, was established in 2015 with headquarter in Novi Sad. CESCI Balkans performs its activities in professional relationship with the ministries in Belgrade.

Planned activities of the project element:

exploring and analysing the Serbian legal environment and legislation that ratified the Framework Convention of Madrid;
consultation about the legislation on implementation with the competent Serbian authorities;
organization of an international conference about the EGTC regulation and its Hungarian applications in Belgrade;
to elaborate a legislative proposal in order to implement the EGTC regulation in Serbia.

2. Healthcare integration

In the frames of the first legal accessibility project we managed to find numerous examples from Western Europe, where cross-border healthcare is provided – even without EU regulations. In all cases, the aim was to improve the quality of life of those living in the border regions. The quality of life of Hungarian citizens as well as those (often Hungarian-speaking) living on the other side of the border is greatly influenced by the often remote national level healthcare institution, instead of which there can be available service in the immediate vicinity, on the other side of the border. Moreover, this proximity can mean life in many cases. In the course of our research we explored how these services can be financed based on the relevant EU provisions, and it also became clear, what major legal and administrative obstacles are hindering the cross-border movement of emergency care vechicles. In the framework of this project we would like to carry forward the results of the first project and to develop a specific action plan in order to provide the legal-administrative conditions of cross-border emergency ambulance services and to promote institutional cooperation.

Content of the project component:

establishment of an ad-hoc working group involving authorities and experts concerned;
a detailed overview of the current system;
drafting a specific regulatory and policy document on proposals from the members of the working group, with regard to emergency services within our internal EU borders.

Results / Healthcare integration (2nd milestone)

The study (Healthcare integration) prepared in the frames of this subproject can be downloaded by clocking on the picture below (in Hungarian).

Results of the subproject were summarized in the following points. Click on the text for details.

Objective of the subproject

During the Legal Accessibility project, implemented in 2016, cross-border integration of health care services was identified as a priority topic, because numerous different questions emerged in the domain of this topic at the stakeholder workshops, and whose legal background is very complex and fair-reaching. The identified legal and administrative obstacles principally gathered around two topics, namely cross-border movement of patients and cross-border emergency activity. During the planning of the project in 2017, cross-border rescue activity received bigger attention. This happened because the professional agencies, which were addressed during the first project, were committed to the initiative. On the other side, the chosen topic seemed to be more manageable as the issue of cross-border movement of patients.

Aim of the subproject was to make a detailed analysis of the legal and administrative background of cross-border emergency activity with help of a professional working group, and we articulated proposals in order to terminate the existing obstacles. Hence, we wanted to achieve

to improve the access of the citizens to emergency medical services in the border areas;
thus, improving the quality of life of the citizens living in the border areas;
and in the long run to contribute to more economical and more efficient operation of rescue, as well as emergency health care network through cross-border integration.

We think that the subproject was successful, since it effectively triggered a debate between the domestic competent authorities and professional bodies, as well as legislative proposals and policy recommendations were drafted in order to eliminate the existing domestic obstacles.

Presentation of the activities that were implemented within the frame of the subproject

Manager of the subproject was Enikő Hüse-Nyerges, a project manager. Working plan was prepared on 3^rd of May.

Within the frame of the subproject, a study was prepared about the possibilities for organizing cross-border emergency rescue. The study included comprehensive, concrete legislative and policy proposals. The study was prepared between June and November, in 2017.

A working group with experts was set up in order to support the professional preparation of the study. The working group had 4 meetings during the duration of the project. Besides, taking into account the complex financing background of the issue, two experts were entrusted with the task to elaborate the related chapters. The relevant request was sent to the National Health Insurance Fund of Hungary on 13^th of June, and we made a contract with two experts, recommended by Deputy Chief of Health, Zsolt Kiss. The two involved experts were Brigitta Paragh and Dr. László Kőrösi.

The following experts were involved within the work of the working group, except the CESCI members (Enikő Hüse-Nyerges, Dr. Norbert Jankai):

Niertit Annamária Barbélyné, Head of Department, Department of Health Administration, Deputy Secretary of State for National Medical Tasks, Ministry of Human Capacities
János Bathó, Head of Organization, National Ambulance Service
Anett Blága, Administrative Adviser, Department of Health Administration, Deputy State Secretary for National Health Officers, Ministry of Human Capacities
Pál Golopencza, Chief Medical Officer, National Ambulance Service
Miklós Gresz, Professional Advisor, Health Care Planning Department, National Healthcare Services Center
Anett Jova, Legal Advisor, Administrative and Legal Department, National Ambulance Service
László Kőrösi, Deputy Head of Department, General Finance Department, National Health Insurance Fund of Hungary
Mária Lórántfy, Regional Director, National Ambulance Service
Brigitta Paragh, Deputy Head of Department, Department of International Relations and Legal Records, National Health Insurance Fund of Hungary.

We invited other experts to participate within the activities of the working group from the Ministry of Human Capacities, Department of EU and International Health and Social Affairs, and the experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, but they did not want to participate in the joint work.

The working group had 4 meetings altogether: on 6^th of July, on 13^th of September, on 11^th of October and on 23^rd of November.

At the first meeting of the working group, critical questions of legal harmonization were identified by a narrow circle of participants (National Ambulance Service, National Health Insurance Fund of Hungary) with the help of CESCI staff. These critical issues go far beyond the health and professional fields, thus, they affect also other domains, like the issue of transport, information communications and the language competence of participants in rescue. Besides, the participants, with the representative of the National Health Insurance Fund of Hungary, thoroughly analysed the domestic and EU aspects of the funding background of health rescue activities. The participants began to identify the EU and national legislation which play relevant role in each topic, as well as they surveyed the possibilities to overcome obstacles. At the end of the meeting, they agreed on further tasks and about the scheduling.

At the second meeting, the number of participants of the working group was extended by the representative of the National Healthcare Services Center, who raised several important questions and issues in the field of cross-border rescue activity. Majority of the questions were either fully or partially answered at the meeting, but in several cases there was a need for further information gathering, legal analysis or involvement of an expert from the sector. During the second part of the meeting, the participants began to clarify the methodological questions relating to the theoretical designation of border area health care and to identify the data and information that were required by the given task.

At the beginning of the third meeting, CESCI reported on the progress of the project in the domain of clarifying professional issues and data collection. They expressed that since the previous meeting, they managed to contact with the experts of Pro-M Zrt., who assure radio services for the National Ambulance Service, as well as they contacted the company that assures ambulances and personnel staff and who answered the previously emerged questions. Subsequently, the participants with the help two experts from the Ministry of Human Capacities, National Health Office of Health Care Administration, reviewed the possibilities of extending the permits in order to carry out foreign rescue activity and they formulated their final proposal. During the second half of the meeting, the questions that were previously unanswered were clarified and the methodology for the theoretical designation of border area health care was finalised, too.

Before the fourth meeting of the working group, the comprehensive study, involving the main results of the subproject, and the draft of the bilateral agreement on cross-border emergency rescue operations were completed. Both materials were shared with the experts of the working group before the meeting. The experts sent their questions and suggestions to the prepared documents before the meeting. At the meeting, the suggestions were reviewed separately and they clarified the content of the disputed parts. On the basis of this, CESCI staff finalised the above mentioned documents.

Debated at the meetings of the working groups, legal and administrative obstacles, which hinder ambulance vehicles to cross the borders in emergency case, affect numerous areas besides health care. In order to clarify these issues, we contacted the following actors with the aim to gather information.

We proposed to establish bilateral agreements about free crossing of non-Schengen borders. In order to clarify whether this bilateral regulation violates higher international, European regulations or not, we consulted it with the staff of the General Border Police Department of the National Police Directorate.
We consulted about the possibilities of establishing a radio link between the ambulance and the control centre after crossing of the borders with the office of the Directorate-General for Law Enforcement of Hungarian National Police Headquarters, as well as with the employees of the Pro-M Zrt., functioning within the frames of the National Infocommunications Service Company.
We asked the ERIX Biztosítási Alkusz és Tanácsadó Kft. about the CASCO and liability insurance of ambulance, as well as about the territorial scope and extent of liability insurance of the personnel.
In order to formulate proposals for eliminating the identified obstacles, we contacted the Secretariat of the Nordic Council in Copenhagen, who provided assistance in order to understand the details of rescue cooperation that is implemented on the Swedish-Norwegian border, and they sent us the related basic documents for internal use.

For the spatial modelling of border areas, which was implemented within the framework of the study, an extensive data collection was needed. In order to obtain the data, we contacted the following organizations and institutions with the help of the working group members:

Landessicherheitszentrale Burgenland GmbH (Burgenland Security Center) – Austria
Rotes Kreuz Burgenland (Burgenland Red Cross) – Austria
Internationale und Europäische Angelegenheiten der Sozialversicherung (Association of Austrian Social Insurance Institutions) – Austria
Úrad pre dohľad nad zdravotnou starostlivosťou (Health Surveillance Authority) – Slovakia
Zavod za zdravstveno zavarovanje Slovenije (Institute for Health Insurance of Slovenia) – Slovenia
Ministrstvo za zdravje (Ministry of Health) – Slovenia
Hrvatski zavod za hitnu medicinu (Croatian Emergency Agency) – Croatia
Tisza ETT – in relation to Ukraine
Transcarpathian Health Department – Ukraine
CESCI Balkans – Serbia.

Summary of the subproject results

The starting point of the subproject

The starting point was the analysis that was implemented by CESCI in 2016, whose main findings were the followings.

Contribution of the expert working group

Contribution of the working group to the final documents seemed to be very fruitful and useful, because the participating members had knowledge about the regulatory background of their own field of expertise and it significantly contributed to the exploration of the full range of existing problems and obstacles, and to the formulation of solution proposals, as well as to develop of the required methodology, to obtain the data that was needed for spatial modelling of border areas.

Besides, the preliminary concept of the CESCI was partly modified on the advice of the participating experts. According to the original idea, we wanted to take steps to enable sharing of cross-border hospital emergency services. This would mean in practice that in case of emergency rescue, the patient would not be necessarily transported to the nearest domestic hospital, but the patient would be transported to the nearest hospital, where he/she can receive appropriate health care service, even in the case when the hospital is located beyond the border. In the case of emergency care, there are no legal and funding barriers in this respect; however, equal opportunities of the injured would be violated. In order to avoid this, the experts advised that regardless of whether domestic or a health care rescue unit beyond the border provides a health care for the injured person, it should always be considered whether the patient would receive higher standard and/or faster patient care in the state of action or in a neighbouring state. However, opening of borders in this specific issue would generate capacity and financial risks because of the expected increase in emergency cases. The volume of the expected increase is not known, yet. Therefore, the problem goes far beyond the scope of this project and study; consequently, we only dealt tangentially with this specific topic.

The main findings and suggestions of the study

The expert study can be divided into three major parts:

In the first part of the document, we provide a brief overview about the justification of the cross-border movement of ambulances, as well as we introduce the related European Union processes. Then, we give a theoretical introduction into the basic elements of the emergency care services, and we describe the domestic emergency system and the emergency system of the neighbouring states, taking particular attention to factors that affect cross-border cooperation.

In the second, most prominent part of the document we analysed the conditions of implementing cross-border emergency rescue through thematic approach, then we formulated legal and policy recommendations. The following topics were processed in this chapter:

the conditions for crossing the border: Schengen, non-Schengen internal borders and external borders
operating licenses: material and personal criteria
use of distinctive signs and their criteria
administrative-technical issues: liability and vehicle insurance, fuelling, travel notes, etc.
professional cross-border cooperation from rescue alert to patient hospitalization
communication: radio contacts, linguistic obstacles
financial questions: financial aspects of rescue activity and emergency hospital care.

The formulated legal proposals and policy recommendations in the document were separately summarized on European, bilateral and national level, we reviewed the priorities of the recommendations, time horizon for implementation and we formulated a series of actions that aimed practical implementation.

A) We made a proposal at the European level to define the concept of cross-border rescue, mutual acceptance of operational and distinguishing signs beyond the border (similar to the Directive No. 2011/24). The applicability of the Directive would be based on the condition that the involved member states voluntarily settle the terms and conditions of cross-border cooperation.

B) We recommend to regulate the following aspects of cross-border rescue through bilateral agreement:

cross-border zones that might be included within cross-border rescue activity;
free movement of rescue vehicles using distinctive sign within non-Schengen borders;
the type, minimum conditions and competences of the rescue team that ca be sent across the borders;
the sequence of alarm and command of the rescue unit beyond the borders;
details of the cooperation between domestic competent units (ambulances, dispatch centre, etc.) and rescue units beyond the borders;
the sequence of transferring the patient to the domestic rescue unit or transporting the patient into the hospital.
protection and support for the rescue units beyond the border;
setting up a translation service that helps the rescue.

C) Depending on the new provisions at European and bilateral level, in some cases it is necessary to implement amendments within the related domestic legislation. The new proposed legislations will affect the content of the following domestic provisions:

content extension of the Decree No. 96/2003. (VII. 15.) on the general conditions for providing health care services and on provider licensing relating to the mutual acceptance of operating licenses;
modification of the Decree No.5/2006. (II.7.) EüM on Emergency Rescue Services relating to personal and material conditions, alarm and command of rescue units beyond the borders, as well as transferring and transporting the patient to hospital;
content extension of the Decree No 12/2007. (III.13.) IMR relating to distinguishing signs;
modification of the Decree No. 41/2004. (IV. 7.) GKM relating to distinguishing signs.

D) Policy recommendations, priority of the recommendations, or the necessary action steps, their time horizon and costs for implementation

It became clear during the project that modification of the legal instruments alone is not enough in order to establish the conditions for cross-border emergency rescue activity, hence formulation of policy recommendations at European and/or bilateral level is necessary for each concerned topic.

*Recommendations for the European Union*

*National and/or bilateral policy recommendations*

In the third part of the study, we modelled and analysed the territorial aspects and potentials of cross-border rescue and emergency hospital care at the theoretical level.

50 km from the border crossing point, based on the methodology that is used in the Hungarian Emergency Rescue system, we have determined the area of 50 minutes availability, where it is worth to explore the possibility of allowing cross-border rescue activity. According to the participating experts within the project, this is the area, where the injured person can get access to appropriate on-site or hospital care by the rescue units of the neighbouring state.
During the analysis of the territorial pattern of rescue services at the border, we took into account the location of the rescue stations and border crossing points, as well as time factor which is related to the arrival of the rescue unit to the given location (15 and 30 minute zones).
Within the frame of the project, we had only limited scope to deal with legal and administrative aspects of cross-border emergency care and its possibilities, we wanted to point out the potentials of cross-border cooperation. This chart illustrates emergency hospitals within border area that are identified within the project; as well as it attempts to visualize the spectrum of benefits offered by the given institutions.

This and elimination of all the other obstacles clearly require not only the effective and high-level cross-border cooperation among wide range of professional organizations, but there is a need for co-operation and problem-solving intention at high political level between neighbouring member states; however, we currently experience shortcomings in this domain.

Fulfilment of the identified indicators of the subproject

Ad-hoc health care working group : 1 working group / 1 working group
Number of meetings of the health care working group: 4 meetings / 4 meetings
Number of invited experts into the ad-hoc working group: 10 persons / 12 persons
A regulatory and policy document on cross-border transport of patient: 1 regulatory and policy document / 1 regulatory and policy document

Possibilities for continuing the subproject

Based on the formulated proposals and the identified difficulties, the following continuation option is conceivable.

In order to organize a cross-border emergency rescue, we recommend to address and involve the competent authorities of the neighbouring countries, hence exploring the opinions of the authorities on existing policy orientations and developments in the neighbouring countries. This could allow the formulation and finalization of bilateral proposals for legislative harmonization.
The other segment of cross-border emergency cooperation is embodied by the emergency hospital care. Nevertheless, cross-border sharing of hospital health care services carries unknown degree of risk, which is unacceptable for the member states. In order to handle the situation, it would be necessary to make a detailed analysis of the issue and to quantify the volume and consequences of potential cross-border patient movement.

Working group meetings (Healthcare integration)

In the first phase of the project we identified the most important actors involved in the issue of cross-border emergency services and invited them to participate in the project as well as in the working group. Representatives were sent to the working group from The National Ambulance Service (NAS; Országos Mentőszolgálat or OMSZ in Hungarian), the National Institute of Health Insurance Fund Management (Hungarian acronym: NEAK), the National Healthcare Service Center (ÁEEK), and the Ministry of Human Capacities, Office of the Chief Medical Officer (EMMI).

1^st working group meeting – Budapest, 6 July 2017

In the framework of the first working group meeting, a smaller group of the participants (OMSZ, NEAK) assisted by the employees of CESCI identified the issues that are critical in terms of legal harmonisation. These significantly go beyond the medical-professional sector, covering inter alia transport, communication and the language competence of those taking part in emergency services. In addition, with the representative of NEAK, they reviewed comprehensively the domestic and EU aspects of the emergency service’s funding. Those present began to identify EU and national laws relevant to specific subjects, and to review options with the aim of surmounting obstacles. At the end of the meeting they agreed on the further actions and their scheduling.

2^nd working group meeting – Budapest, 13 September 2017

The second working group meeting took place with the former participants, together with the employee of the ÁEEK, who phrased several questions covering cross-border emergency services in detail, but important in terms of practical implementation: In the case of services performed abroad, how should the waybill be completed? What kind of protection are ambulance services provided with abroad? , etc. The majority of the questions was partly or fully answered in the course of the meeting, however there were cases that required further gathering of information, review of legislation or the involvement of sectoral experts. In the second half of the meeting, participants began to clarify methodological issues necessary to the designation of the health service zones along the borders and to identify the requirements for data and information, necessary for the fulfilment of the task.

3rd working group meeting – Budapest, 11 October 2017

The third working group meeting was opened by the employees of CESCI, who reported on the progress of the project as regards the clarification of technical matters and data collection. They said, that during the period since the previous meeting, they managed to contact the experts of Pro-M Zrt., the provider of radio communication for OMSZ, as well as companies providing ambulances and the staff with insurance, who answered the questions raised previously. Subsequently, together with two employees of the Ministry of Human Capacities, Office of the Chief Medical Officer (EMMI), they reviewed the possibilities of extending the authorisation and permission necessary for performing emergency services abroad, and outlined their final proposals to that effect. In the second half of the meeting, the questions that formerly remained unanswered were clarified and the methodology of designating health service zones along the borders was finalised.

4th working group meeting – Budapest, 23 November 2017

The draft version of the overall study and the proposal on the bilateral agreement, as the main outputs of the project were delivered and sent to the members of the working group in the middle of November. The experts reviewed the documents and shares their questions and comments before the forth working group meeting. During the meeting these questions and remarks were discussed and clarified one by one. Following the meeting, the experts of CESCI have modified the concerned documents accordingly.

Data collection (Healthcare integration)

Legal and administrative obstacles discussed at the meetings, that are hindering the border-crossing of ambulances in cases of emergency concern several fields beside healthcare, including transport, communication and other administrative matters. In order to clarify the related questions, we contacted the following actors:

We have proposed to set-up bilateral agreements concerning the free movements of emergency care vehicles through the border with the neighbouring countries out of the Schengen zone. In order to clarify whether this proposal breaks any national or EU regulation, we addressed the employees of the Border Control Department of the National Police Headquarters.
With the possibility of establishing radio communication between ambulances and the foreign dipatcher centre, we addressed the employees of the National Police Headquarters and the Pro-M Zrt. operating within the National Infrastructure Development Company (NIF Zrt).
Concerning the territorial scope of the ambulances’ comprehensive insurance and liability insurance, as well as the liability insurance of the staff, and the possibility of its extension, we consulted the ERIX Biztosítási Alkusz és Tanácsadó Kft (insurance broker and consulting company).
In order to outline proposals on removing the obstacles encountered, we contacted The Nordic Council of Ministers’ Secretariat in Copenhagen, who provide details about the healthcare cooperation on the Swedish-Norwegian border.

To obtain the necessary data for the designation of health service zones along the borders we contacted the following organizations and institutions:

Landessicherheitszentrale Burgenland GmbH – Austria
Rotes Kreuz Burgenland (Austrian Red Cross) – Austria
Internationale und Europäische Angelegenheiten der Sozialversicherung (Associationof Austrian Social Insurance Institutions) – Austria
Úrad pre dohľad nad zdravotnou starostlivosťou (The Health Care Surveillance Authority) – Slovakia
Zavod za zdravstveno zavarovanje Slovenije (The Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia) – Slovenia
Ministrstvo za zdravje (Ministry of Health) – Slovenia
Hrvatski zavod za hitnu medicinu (The Croatian Institute of Emergency Medicine) – Croatia
Tisza EGTC – Ukraine
Transcarpathian Department of Health – Ukraine
CESCI Balkans – Serbia

3. Local products, short supply chains

The issue of local products is strictly regulated throughout Europe and it is maintained in the competences of the member states. The association of Kislépték (Association of Interest Representatives of the Manufacturers and Service Providers) successfully prepared Hungarian legislation in the area of local producers and short supply chains in the last years.

People who live in the border regions are in a disadvantageous situation because of the current territorial restrictions, thus they can acquire healthy local products from a much smaller area than those people, who live in the inner parts of the country. Within the frame of the current project, we would like to put together a proposal that is able to manage this discrimination. Subsequently, we involve the experts from the Kislépték into the legislative preparatory work.

Content of the project element:

establishing a working group with the involvement of experts, representatives of the Ministry and the Kislépték;
proposing legal and policy proposal that address the competitive disadvantages and discrimination against the local producers of border regions.

Results / Local products (2nd milestone)

The study (Local products) prepared in the frames of this subproject can be downloaded by clicking on the picture below (in Hungarian).

Objective of the subproject

During the 2016 project, Legal Accessibility, the issue of cross-border trade of local products was identified as a priority topic, since this question, which has a complex legal background, appeared at numerous stakeholder-workshops. Subsequently, during the 2017 project design, the topic of local products and cross-border supply chains received special emphasis.

The aim of the subproject was to reveal the legal background of the specific issue in details and to formulate suggestions in order to remove the existing obstacles. Revealing of the legal background and formulation of suggestions took place with the help of external experts and with the help of a working group on the other hand. We wanted to achieve

to alleviate the disadvantageous situation of people in border areas, caused by the territorial scope of the Hungarian legislation on local markets, through extension of the 40 km zone, which appears in the Hungarian market regulation, into the areas beyond the border;
to contribute that people who live along the border are supplied by healthy food and to improve their quality of life;
to start and to increase the interaction of the previously organically linked cultural landscapes, which are fragmented by borders, and to weaken the separating effect of the borders through creation of a unifying economic space;
to widen the market opportunities for the small-scale producers through mutual opening of sale opportunities of the neighbouring states towards each other.

Although, the subproject did not bring the expected results, thus we had to leave the idea to harmonize legislation, and we formulated alternative suggestions in order to meet the original objectives.

Presentation of the activities that were implemented within the frame of the subproject

Leader of the subproject was the Secretary General, Gyula Ocskay, the working plan was completed on 10^th of May.

In the framework of this subproject, a comprehensive study was written about the legal and policy context of local products in cross-border trade. The study was developed between July and December 2017.

In order to involve the appropriate experts, CESCI requested a tender from three legal experts on 20th of June 2017. The tender offers were received on 23rd of June. On 26th of June, the committee, set up by the Association, accepted the offer that was given by Dr. Ágnes Major. The chosen service provider involved two other experts into the study, namely Andrea Szabadkai, the Director of the Kislépték Egyesület (Kisléptékű Termékelőállítók és Szolgáltatók Országos Érdekképviseletének Egyesülete; in English: National Association of Interest Representations for Small-scale producers and service providers), as well as János Horváth, a tax expert, who is the board member of the Association. The three member team prepared the first version of the study by the end of September, then the study was finalised by the end of November on the basis of the expert group´s comments. Subsequently, CESCI did further amendments in the document, thus achieving the final form of the study by the end of the year.

An expert team was set up to support the preparation of the study. The first meeting of the team took place in the office of CESCI on 20th of June, 2017. At this meeting, Dr. Márta Torda, who is the Head of the General Department of International and the Carpathian Basin Relations at the Ministry of Agriculture, offered that she will announce the initiative within the Ministry and among the partner organizations, and she expressed that they provide space for further meetings of the working group. Since then, the meetings took place in the building of the Ministry of Agriculture, located on the Kossuth Square.

The following experts were involved within the work of the working group, except the appointed experts and the CESCI members (Dr. Norbert Jankai, Gyula Ocskay):

Ágota Balázs, Referent, Ministry of Agriculture, General Department of Food Chain Management
Ferenc Deák, Ministry of Agriculture, Deputy Head of General Department of Food Chain Management
Szabolcs Hancsók, Referent, Ministry of Agriculture, General Department of International and the Carpathian Basin Relations
Annamária Jakab, Referent, Ministry of Agriculture, General Department of International and the Carpathian Basin Relations
Katalin Kujáni, Research Manager, Discovery Research and Development Center
Gergely Lantos, Head of General Department: Ministry of Agriculture, General Department of Agricultural Development and Rural Strategy
Matus László, Referent, Ministry of Agriculture, General Department of Agricultural Development and Rural Strategy
Mihály Szalay, Rural Development and Advisory Directorate of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture
Erika Székely, Director, Rural Development and Advisory Directorate of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture
Edina Szomi, Referent, Rural Development and Advisory Directorate of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture
Márta Torda, Head of General Department, Ministry of Agriculture, General Department of International and the Carpathian Basin Relations
Orsolya Tószegi, REL-Referent, Prime Ministers’ Office, Strategic Department of European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development

The working group had four meetings altogether: on 20^th of June, 4^th of July, 2^nd of October and 28^th of November.

At the first meeting of the group, experts were identified who should be involved in the work. Beforehand, CESCI prepared a summary about the results of the project in the previous year in order to summarize the issue.

At the second meeting (the chosen expert prepared another preparatory material), various aspects of the necessary legislative and policy environment were investigated, and the theoretical framework of the study was accepted. Moreover, a decision was made at the meeting to launch a questionnaire, because the present members of the working group articulated their fears that changes in the contemporary regulatory regime might be disadvantageous for the producers in the border area. Thus, the experts thought that it is important to ask the opinion of the local producers about the draft, too. The questionnaire was compiled by the experts. Publication of the questionnaire, as well as processing of the results (including the digitalization of the hand-filled questionnaires) were undertaken by CESCI. The link of the questionnaire was disseminated by the working group experts through their own professional networks.

On 2^nd of October, the first draft of the study was discussed. Members of the working group formulated minimal proposals for modification. Beside of the study, the results of the questionnaire were also discussed. The low number of filled questionnaires resulted in a decision that the questionnaires were extended with the help of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture and we started to accept answers in paper version, too.

On 28^th of November, the finalised form of the study, the questionnaire results were presented and the outcomes were acknowledged by the members.

The questionnaire activity was implemented between 3^rd of August and 20^th of November. Two questionnaires were prepared: one questionnaire identified the consumers, while the second questionnaire identified the producers as the main objects of the questionnaire. The first deadline was the end of September. Until the end of September, 94 consumer questionnaires and 34 producer questionnaires were received. However, the number of filled questionnaires was significantly increased by the help of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture, and 452 consumer questionnaires and 341 producer questionnaires were processed until 20th of November. The analysis of the results were included in the final version of the study which was completed in December.

Summary of the subproject results

The starting point of the subproject

The starting point was represented by the study of CESCI from 2016. The main arguments were the followings:

(1) The constitutional rights of those people who live in border regions are violated because of the current Hungarian legislation. The Fundamental Law of Hungary declares that

“Article XX, paragraph (1) Everyone shall have the right to physical and mental health.
(2) Hungary shall promote the effective application of the right referred to in Paragraph (1) by an agriculture free of genetically modified organisms, by ensuring access to healthy food and drinking water, by organising safety at work and healthcare provision, by supporting sports and regular physical exercise, as well as by ensuring the protection of the environment.” (highlighted by us – the editor)

At the same time, the Government Decree 55/2009. (III. 13.) on fairs, markets and shopping centres identifies the local producer market in a way that only those Hungarian small producers can sell their own products who are from the given county, or in case that the local market is located in the peripheral part of the county, then the local producers may arrive from 40 km area. (Budapest is an exception, any Hungarian small-scale producer can sell his/her products here because of its easy accession). The territorial discrimination is embodied by the fact that in case of a market in the city of Szentes, small producers may arrive from Csongrád County and from a further 40 km radius area, thus small producers may arrive from Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, Békés and Bács-Kiskun counties. Nevertheless, in case of Esztergom there is only a half circle area from where the producers may arrive, or the case of Sopron is even narrower. Argumentation of CESCI was built on the notion that if the citizens of the latter cities cannot access to healthy food from a similar area, their constitutional rights are violated.

(2) The above mentioned discrimination might be overcome if the 40 km territorial scope does not end at the border, but the local producers may arrive to the Hungarian markets from the areas beyond the borders. The European Union’s legal order which guarantees the free movement of persons, services and goods could be the basis for this. At the same time, the actual legal background assures that the domain of local products and the regulation of local producers’ sales, including food safety and tax issues, are situated within the level of national power. Subsequently, if the local producers want to sell their products in Hungary the contemporary legal constellation creates a particularly disadvantageous situation for the small producers in the neighbouring EU countries. Because of administrative and logistical burden, they can offer and sell their products with a much higher price in comparison with the Hungarian producers and this generates that their appearance is irrational from economic point of view on the Hungarian side.

*Illustrating of territorial discrimination on a map*

Subsequently, CESCI proposed legislative changes within the text of the existing regulations, as well as it made a proposal for a bilateral agreement that might enable the Hungarian Government and the governments of the neighbouring countries to agree on mutual recognition of cross-border sales of local producers.

Consumers’ and producers’ views – the results of the questionnaire

On the basis of the initiative of the expert group, we asked the opinions of the Hungarian consumers and the small producers of the counties, located near to the borders, about their opinion that local producers beyond the border could sell their products on the domestic markets which are located near to the borders.

The consumers’ questionnaire was filled in by 464 people, while we could not include 12 filled questionnaires since those questionnaires were filled either by a private person beyond the border or by a person who does not live in a county that is located near to the border (e.g. Tolna). Most respondents arrived from the counties of Békés and Komárom-Esztergom. The respondents of these two counties accounted for three quarter of all the respondents.

The distribution of the answers to each question is visible in the following table below.

Results of the consumers’ questionnaire research

Question		Supporter[1]	Against	Refrained, without answer
How would you be affected if the foreign local producers, from a range of 40 km, could arrive to Hungary with the aim to sell their own produced products on the market near to the borders, events?	I would be happy because more products enrich the assortment of products and it attracts more consumers.	68%	32%	0%
	If the seller is a registered producer, I would be happy.	74%	26%	0%
	I would be happy if there could be a label, description about the product in Hungarian language (or the seller speaks Hungarian language).	80%	19%	1%
	I trust the market organizer that he allows to sell only those producers, who do not pose any risk to the consumers.	76%	23%	1%
	I am not happy, I am afraid of food safety risks.	59%	40%	1%
	I am not happy, it generates a concurrency for the domestic producers.	45%	54%	1%
	I could accept it in the case if the Hungarian producers could sell in neighbouring countries, too.	73%	26%	1%

The results of the questionnaire show that the consumers do not want to experience that the producers beyond the border could generate a market concurrency for the Hungarian producers. At the same time, they could accept their appearance with certain conditions – for example on the basis of mutuality.

The producers’ questionnaire was filled in by 355 people, but we could not include 14 filled questionnaires because of the above mentioned reasons. Most of the respondents arrived from the counties of Békés and Komárom-Esztergom, too.

Results of the producers’ questionnaire research

Question		Supporter	Against	Refrained, without answer
How would you be affected if the foreign local producers, from a range of 40 km, could arrive to Hungary with the aim to sell their own produced products on the market near to the borders, events?	I would be happy because more products enrich the range of products and it attracts more consumers.	47%	50%	3%
	It does not disturb me, I do not feel it as a concurrency.	47%	50%	3%
	I trust the market organizer that he allows to sell only those producers whose products do not mean concurrency.	54%	44%	2%
	I accept it, if the seller complies the quantity for the small producers.	66%	31%	3%
	I accept it, if the products are taxed with the same measures as my products.	66%	30%	4%
	I accept it, if I can enter (on the basis of reciprocity) to their market/event.	68%	29%	3%
	It is a concurrency, producers beyond the border should not come to the markets, events located near to the border.	44%	53%	3%

The fear of competition is stronger among the producers than among the consumers, but it is fully understandable. This is the reason that most of the questions proved to be significantly divisive: the supporters and the opponents of the relief appeared in half and half proportions. However, the producers might accept the proposal easier if these changes do not generate any competitive advantage for the sellers beyond the borders. It is especially true if the liberalisation are based on mutuality with the neighbouring countries.

The results of the questionnaire show that the consumers and the producers are more likely to support liberalization than to reject it – mainly, if the liberalisation is based on reciprocity.

Contribution of the expert working group

The contribution of the expert working group to the final document proved to be extremely useful, namely the experts significantly influenced the formulation of the preparatory concept through the expertise of their professional specialization’s regulatory background.

It can be comprehensively stated that the expert working group criticized the original concept at numerous points, but this criticism supported the development of a more pragmatic proposal.

The main findings and suggestions of the study

The expert study can be divided into three major parts.

The authors sum up the theoretical frameworks of cross-border local product sales in the first part. They address the latest developments in the field of legal harmonization, the DG Regio Cross-Border Review project, as well as the statement of the Commission on the basis of the project and its expected consequences. The launched program on the EU level aims to remove the existing legal-administrative obstacles, the study also draws attention to other initiatives at the level of bigger region and at national level. Besides, it emphasizes the country-specific recommendation on the reduction of economic bureaucracy in the Hungarian Partnership Agreement.

The authors present the latest developments on local products in the EU policy and they draw attention to cross-border aspects. They mention several attempts, when the EU members took initiatives to make cross-border integration of local markets or to facilitate the possibilities of the small producers to sell their products beyond the borders. Although, these experiments have not achieved any spectacular success and most of them failed.

Finally, they underline the specificity of the Central European region, emphasizing that opening of the borders, structured in the 20th century and which were formerly impermeable, generate that old and organically related territorial ties reoccur and they create opportunity for development of economic cooperation.

The second part introduces the activities that were implemented within the frame of the subproject: results of CESCI project from 2016, the questionnaire process and the work of the working group (their description see above).

Finally, the third part includes the comprehensive legal analysis that deduces the need for a harmonization from the Union’s pillar of free movement of goods and services. From this point of view, the authors see the Directive 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market as the starting point. The Directive assesses that the provider who arrives from the area that is beyond the border (with exception of so called “regulated professions”, identified within the Directive) does not need any specific permission, or he does not have any separate obligation for registration: the provider can be obliged to obtain those permissions, as well as registration, which are obliged for the domestic provider, too. On the basis of the prohibition of discrimination, no specific restrictions could be imposed on a producer who arrives beyond the border.

“Member States may obstruct, limit the right to provide services on their own territory only on the basis of the principles of necessity and proportionality, namely they may describe only such – proportional – eligibility criteria that may be necessary due to public policy, public security, public health, the protection of the environment and the protection of the consumer” (ed. English translation by the authors) [2]

The problem is that selling of food beyond the borders always raise food hygiene question, thus the issue of public health risk – this is true even in a case of short supply chain, in our case it is a small volume sale to the end user.

The Member States of the European Union have to follow the Community law in the domain of food safety and food hygiene, where the issue of traceability is the most important aspect. As a rule of thumb, it is acceptable that those products whose production is in agreement with the relevant EU regulations are considered as safe and they can be placed on the market without restriction – theoretically, they can be introduced at the market also beyond the border. This measure requires that the producer registers himself in his own country, thus ensuring a control mechanism for the authorities. The EU Regulation (EC) No 853/2004[3] reflects the possibility of potential cross-border sales.

EU food law was incorporated into the Hungarian legislation by the Act XLVI of 2008 on the food chain and the official supervision. According to the law, safety of food is a responsible of the Hungarian distributor.

For the traceability of the liability system, the Hungarian small scale producer has to register himself that he is engaged in commercial activity. It is important to underline that this has to be done in Hungarian language and the registration number has to be indicated. However, the small producer beyond the border may not necessarily speak Hungarian language and his registration number is not compatible with the Hungarian system. These problems can be handled with small modifications (e.g. official blanks are accessible in the language of the neighbouring countries, as well as establishing of interoperability with the foreign registration databases).

At the same time, according to the Hungarian Commercial Law, only those local small-scale producers can sell on a local market who comply with the Hungarian law. In the case of producers from the EU Member States, the legislation allows the sale of goods if the producers comply with the Hungarian tax and accounting rules and if they fulfilled the required obligations for registration. That means that they have to apply for a Hungarian tax number, but this automatically includes the producer, because of his foreign establishment (“intra-community acquisition of goods”), within the tax system. The Hungarian producers can apply for a VAT exemption under 8 million HUF annual turnover, but this exemption is not available for the foreign producers. The Hungarian VAT rate is the highest in the EU (27%), then the foreign producers, even under the same conditions, can sell their products with 27% higher prices in Hungary than their economic competitors. Moreover, the inclusion in the VAT circle obligation entails much greater administrative burden. In the case of a foreign seller, the issuance of internal invoice is also mandatory – all this has to be done in Hungarian language.

Even bigger problem is generated by the regulations that aim to “whiten” the Hungarian economy:

Decree No. 3/2010 (VII. 5.) of the Ministry of Rural Development on data reporting and traceability relating to food production and sale,
Decree No. 82/2004 (V. 11.) of the Minister of Agriculture and Regional Development on inspection of fruit and vegetables,
Decree No. 5/2015 (II. 27.) of the Minister of National Economy on the function of the Electronic Public Road Trade Control system,
Decree No. 51/2014 (XII. 31.) of the Ministry for National Economy Defining Hazardous Goods in Relation to the operation of the Electronic Public Road Trade Control System.

According to the Decree No. 3/2010 (VII. 5.), notification obligation appears to the market organizer even in case of selling 2 bottles of foreign jams (in many cases the notification obligation has to happen 2-3 days in advance, namely to notify who will sold what kind of products in the market). In the case of goods that exceed 500 kg or they have a value above 1 million HUF, it is necessary to register the risky products (including food) in the Electronic Public Road Trade Control System. The consignee is obliged to register (it is the market organizer in our case).

It can be seen from the above described conditions that sale of foreign local products in Hungary includes such administrative burden which directly questions whether it is worth to legally bring small amounts of locally produced food or not. The contemporary legislation is more favourable for the illegal moves, because the volume of the sold food is negligible in comparison to the administrative burden. This argument was repeated several times at the debates of the working group.

Because of the above described difficulties, the authors of the study do not recommend amendment of the legislation. Instead, the following suggestions were formulated:

As it is visible, the study rather contains policy and practical advices and suggestions instead of legal ones. However, a half-year work cannot be regarded as unsuccessful, since every aspect of the given question was analysed with sufficient depth.

Footnotes

[1] Supporters are those respondents who expressed their opinion to the given question that they could accept the appearence of producers beyond the borders at domestic markets.

[2] Szabadkai Andrea – dr. Major Ágnes – Horváth János – CESCI (2017): Határon átnyúló helyitermék-értékesítés. Tanulmány és jogalkotói javaslatok, 36.

[3] Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for on the hygiene of foodstuffs down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin

[4] Szabadkai et alii: i.m. 55.

Fulfilment of the identified indicators of the subproject

Local Products Working Group: 1 working group / 1 working group
Number of invited experts into the Local Products Working Group: 10 persons / 15 persons
Number of meetings of the Local Products Working Group: 4 meetings / 4 meetings
A comprehensive policy and legal recommendation that helps the cross-border integration of small producers: 1 comprehensive policy and legal recommendation / 1 comprehensive policy and legal recommendation

Possibilities for continuing the subproject

On the basis of the formulated proposals and the identified difficulties, the following continuation option is feasible.

It would be appropriate to examine the question of issuing small producer card within the framework of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture and to examine the conditions of its introduction.
To initiate a harmonization of the registers of the neighbouring countries, as well as establishment of a common nomenclature.
To make that official blanks, which are needed for registration and for the Hungarian selling activity, are accessible in the official language of the neighbouring countries.
It would be useful to make a compilation of the relevant legislation of the Hungarian and the neighbouring countries and to compare them, as well as to formulate a certain guide for the case if someone wants to sell the products on the other side of the border.
There is a need to draw the attention of to the EU legislators about the obstacles arising from national regulations. Although cross-border sales of local products do not represent a significant weight within the national economies of the countries, but on the overall European level it is added and it reaches a symbolic significance. It is not expected that the issue will have an EU level solution, but the European institutions may articulate recommendations for the member states and this might catalyse the Hungarian legislative process, too.

Meetings of the working group (local products)

An expert working group was set up in order to reveal the legal background and to formulate suggestions on the issue of cross-border trade of local products. The following experts were involved within the work of the working group, except the appointed experts and CESCI members (Dr. Norbert Jankai, Gyula Ocskay):

Ágota Balázs, Referent, Ministry of Agriculture, General Department of Food Chain Management
Ferenc Deák, Ministry of Agriculture, Deputy Head of General Department of Food Chain Management
dr. Szabolcs Hancsók, Referent, Ministry of Agriculture, General Department of International and the Carpathian Basin Relations
Annamária Jakab, Referent, Ministry of Agriculture, General Department of International and the Carpathian Basin Relations
Katalin Kujáni, Research Manager, Discovery Research and Development Center
Gergely Lantos, Head of General Department, Ministry of Agriculture, General Department of Agricultural Development and Rural Strategy
dr. Matus László, Referent, Ministry of Agriculture, General Department of Agricultural Development and Rural Strategy
Mihály Szalay, Rural Development and Advisory Directorate of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture
Erika Székely, Director, Rural Development and Advisory Directorate of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture
Edina Szomi, Referent, Rural Development and Advisory Directorate of the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture
dr. Márta Torda, Head of General Department, Ministry of Agriculture, General Department of International and the Carpathian Basin Relations
Orsolya Tószegi, REL-Referent, Prime Ministers’ Office, Strategic Department of European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development

The working group had four meetings altogether: on 20^th of June, 4^th of July, 2^nd of October and 28^th of November.

1st meeting of the local products working group (20th of June, 2017)

Gyula Ocskay welcomed the participants on behalf of CESCI and he thanked for accepting the invitation. He briefly introduced the Association, then he gave an overview of the project with title Legal Accessibility, implemented last year, and about its results on cross-border trade of local products.

On the basis of the background material, which was posted in advance, Márta Torda, Head of General Department, indicated that they would like to cooperate in discussion of the issue with CESCI. On the one side, she offered that the meetings could be held in the building of the Ministry of Agriculture, on the other side she promised a help that the relevant general departments of the Ministry will also represent themselves at the meetings. She also proposed a list of additional invitees, like the experts of NÉBIH (in English: The National Food Chain Safety Office), Prime Ministers’ Office, and the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture. She promised contacts, too.

Gyula Ocskay thanked for the offered help and he briefly introduced the project schedules and indicators of the Legal Accessibility project in 2017. He mentioned that three experts were invited to offer a tender for legal advice.

The participants agreed that the next meeting of the extended working group will be held on 4^th of July in the building of the Ministry.

The following participants were present:

dr. Szabolcs Hancsók, Ministry of Agriculture
dr. Norbert Jankai, CESCI
Gyula Ocskay, CESCI
dr. Márta Torda, Ministry of Agriculture

2nd meeting of the local products working group (4th of July, 2017)

Szabolcs Hancsók welcomed the participants at the beginning of the meeting, then Gyula Ocskay introduced the Legal Accessibility project, whose aim is to propose legal and policy recommendations in order to reduce the dividing effects of the borders, thus improving the living conditions of people who live in border areas. As it was mentioned at the meeting, several attempts have been made in order to address the problem of cross-border trade of local products, but the attempts were unsuccessful, so far.

Subsequently, the following topics were discussed by the participants:

I. Discussed topics at the meeting

Regulating environment: the problem is that most of the countries have different legislative regulation of (small-scale) producers. The definition itself is also different in most of the countries, hence it is appropriate to avoid using the term ‘small-scale producer’, rather the focus should be taken on ‘selling to a direct end user’. For example, it is known that the Slovak legislation is much stricter than the Hungarian one. The regulative environment differs from country to country and this makes the harmonization harder, i.e. there is a need to find the way of harmonization with at least 5 EU neighbouring member states. The easiest way would be to make a legislation on the EU level. At the same time, a training system, Better Food, exists in the EU, and the Flexibility training showed that there are different ideas for small-scale producers in each country.

Regulatory flexibility: the basis for applying the principle is the local tradition, traditional raw materials and the existence of special producing processes and their respect (small scale sales!). Transport of local food across borders questions this principle. Selling of local products is also based on customer trust. Although, this is not denied by the cross-border sale.

Food safety: the risk is embodied by the track of the food which comes from the area beyond the border is unable to control. It is not possible to exactly know whether the product was produced by the selling person or not. The Slovak produces are registered and controlled by the domestic authorities. There is no possibility to register the foreign producer in the Hungarian register. There would be a need to have an access to each other’s database. There is a need to ascertain whether the given producer is entitled to sell his products and whether the given product is not harmful to health (traceability).

Healthy food: following the request of the Minister, a working group has been recently established for this topic. However, the group has failed to define what can be considered to healthy food. Consequently, it is not appropriate to refer on this; although, the Constitution contains the right to have access to healthy foods. The reference is weakened by the fact that the article XX mentions the basic rights, but concrete measures cannot be deduced from it. The use of the term also requires caution in the sense that healthy food cannot be produced only by a small-scale producer.

Territoriality / extra territoriality: administrative barrier of the border creates discrimination – as every national legislation do. Nevertheless, the Constitution of Hungary and other laws (e.g. law on citizenship) apply extraterritorial provisions. The possible solution cannot include any national discrimination, but the Hungarian citizenship cannot be a criterion either. The regulation of the local producer market should be amended, and the Ministry of National Economy will address it, too.

Concurrency: appearance of sellers from the area beyond the border represent a concurrency for the domestic producers. It is a fact that many small-scale local markets have developed in recent years. Many of them have few vendors and expansion of the potential vendors may improve the situation. At the same time, the unilateral amendment of the Hungarian legislation, without accepting mutuality, could generate disadvantage for the Hungarian producers. Important aspect is the question of regularity and quantity of selling – especially, for the protection of the Hungarian producers. An example of foreign selling exists, e.g. somebody from the Board Member of the Kislépték (in English: National Association of Interest Representations for Small-scale producers and service providers) sells products in Austria. If selling activity takes place, it has to be done with the same conditions as the Hungarian producers do it.

II. Suggestions for further continuation

Do not include the non-EU neighbour countries.
In parallel with the legal analysis, a questionnaire survey should be implemented among the domestic producers and consumers on the question, how would they relate to the proposed derogation. (Kislépték and CESCI make a joint proposal for the questionnaire, but everyone can comment it).
We should not focus on legal harmonization, but we should try to modify the Hungarian regulation, hence approaching toward the least resistance. In order to ensure mutuality, the Hungarian proposal may be the starting point for negotiations with the neighbouring countries.
The proposal should be applied only to cross-border sales in Hungary, thus the approval is linked to km distance that may reduce competition. There is no need to modify the smalls-scale producer regulation.

The following participants were present:

dr. Ágota Balázs, Ministry of Agriculture
Ferenc Deák, Ministry of Agriculture
dr. Szabolcs Hancsók, Ministry of Agriculture
dr. Norbert Jankai, CESCI
Szilvia Kovács, Első Magyar Kert Szövetkezet (EMKSZ) and Kislépték
Gergely Lantos, Ministry of Agriculture
dr. Ágnes Major, lawyer
dr. László Matus, Ministry of Agriculture
Gyula Ocskay, CESCI
Andrea Szabadkai, Kislépték
Erika Székely, Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture
Edina Szomi, Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture

3rd meeting of the local products working group (2nd of October, 2017)

Szabolcs Hancsók welcomed the participants at the beginning of the meeting on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, which assured space for the meeting, and he apologised that he had to leave the meeting. Then, Gyula Ocskay presented the prepared study, as well as the results of the questionnaire.

Comments on the results of the study

GENERAL NOTIONS

Each Member State has the power to determine the content of the “local and marginal” production. Food hygiene rules are equally binding for everyone, there is no difference here, but the conditions of local producer are fully based on local traditions. This will result that the process of harmonisation will be very hard with the neighbouring countries, because separate agreements will be needed with each government.

The same conditions need to be provided for the Hungarian small-scale producers in the areas beyond the border. However, production costs are not the same on both sides of the border. How can it be ensured that the Hungarian small-scale producers are not in disadvantaged position?

It is important that the analysis should not generate any impressions that we do not comply the EU rules.

Modification of the regulation on small-scale producers is not among the plans. Authors of the study propose the amendments of the local market regulation.

CONCRETE NOTIONS

Significance of the modifications: there are no problems with small-scale producers in the case of the registered enterprises. Does the cross-border trade of local products have such economic importance which is worth to undertake a complicate amendment in legislation?

Difficulties of controlling: it is impossible to compare the small quantity across the border with the quantity that is sold in Hungary, because the databases are not linked, and controls should be done on both sides. Thus, there is a risk of dumping.

FELIR-identification: selling activity can be done only by FELIR-identification. Food controlling are carried out on this basis of this, but fighting against the black economy is also an important aspect of it. Subsequently, modification of the relevant rules would not be beneficial for this reason.

Obligation of notification: food that is imported to Hungary has to be reported on the basis of its first storage place. In this case the first storage place is the market. The market organizer is responsible for reporting, the NÉBIH will penalize him, too.

Supplier’s identity: the small-scale producer cannot operate a web-shop (mail order trade), it is prohibited by law. Transport is a task that has to be made by the buyer. The small-scale producer may advertise himself in order to attract the consumers. This seems to be simpler, since there is no need to make amendments in the law: the buyer transports the good across the border – at his own risk – instead of the producer.

Question of direct supply: only the cooperation itself may be the seller and it cannot sell the goods further, because the Regulation no. 852 applies only to direct sales.

Definition difficulties: in the case of compound foods, there are also differences in the definition of ingredients between each country.

SOLUTION PROPOSALS

Regulation no. 2/2010 could be amended with facilitation: the option to sell only low quantity; the seller from the areas beyond the border has to register himself on-line; or he may have Hungarian card of small-scale producers. The chip card system which is under development by the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture could be an appropriate solution and it could be controlled even by a telephone.
The Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture connects markets and farmers in a digital system. They register the producers, productions (possibly the volume, too). This system could be extended to the producers beyond the border.
Regulation on local producer market could be amended in a way that the “small-scale” producer, under the rules that are applied there, could sell on the Hungarian side.
The Union regulates the electronic trade which will overwrite everything and it is likely to solve also the problems that were raised by the study.

At the request of the participants, CESCI undertook that the study will be available for everybody in ‘word’ format. Deadline for submitting of the comments was 10th of November.

Comments on the questionnaire

Contradictory results have emerged: responses of the producers of two questions that concerned the exclusion of competition did not produce the same result. Did they understand the questions?

The number of responses is very low (probably due to the summer announcement), so there is no possibility to draw a real picture about the opinions of the consumers and producers. The Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture offered that they will restart the questionnaire through their county offices. They asked us to allow the option that the questionnaires can be filled in paper-form, because this is the simplest solution for many small-scale producers. The participants agreed that time frame for the questionnaire survey is extended until 10th of November. For this, CESCI reopens its on-line interface and the link is shared within its network. CESCI undertook the task to process the questionnaires that were filled by hand.

Participants of the group will be informed about the results at the meeting in November.

The following participants were present:

Ferenc Deák, Ministry of Agriculture
Dr. Szabolcs Hancsók, Ministry of Agriculture
János Horváth, Kislépték
Annamária Jakab, Ministry of Agriculture
Dr. Norbert Jankai, CESCI
Katalin Kujáni, Discovery Research Agency
Gergely Lantos, Ministry of Agriculture
Dr. Ágnes Major, lawyer
Gyula Ocskay, CESCI
Andrea Szabadkai, Kislépték
Mihály Szalai, Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture
Erika Székely, Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture
Edina Szomi, Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture
Orsolya Tószegi, Prime Minister’s Office

Documents relating to the meeting of the working group can be downloaded:

Presentation – Questionnaire

Presentation – Study

4th meeting of the local products working group (28th of November, 2017)

Szabolcs Hancsók welcomed the participants at the beginning of the meeting on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture that assured space for the meeting, then Gyula Ocskay presented the results of the extended questionnaire survey. He expressed in his introduction that they accepted the filled questionnaires until 20th of November; subsequently, they finished the digitalization, and a presentation was prepared from the results of the questionnaire survey.

In comparison with the previous measurement, the extension resulted in processing of 452 consumers’ questionnaires and 341 producers’ questionnaires which is an appropriate number in order to make realistic deductions. He underlined that the final results do not significantly differ from the results of the previous limited questionnaire survey: the vast majority of the respondents is ready to accept that small-scale producers, from the areas beyond the border, might sell their products in Hungarian markets with certain conditions (especially on the basis of mutuality).

Neither question nor comments were received in relation to the questionnaire survey.

Subsequently, the topic was the study itself and only two comments were articulated. CESCI inbuilt the comments into the document – with certain analytical section. The study was published in the end of the year 2017 and it was published on the webpage of CESCI. From the notions of the conclusion of the analysis, it was emphasized that legislative changes were not initiated, because solution of the identified problems would be disproportionately hard task in comparison with the volume of the trade. Instead, the study will propose some alternative solutions.

At the end of the meeting, Gyula Ocskay thanked the joint work of participants of the working group.

The following participants were present:

Ferenc Deák, Ministry of Agriculture
dr. Szabolcs Hancsók, Ministry of Agriculture
Gergely Lantos, Ministry of Agriculture
dr. Ágnes Major, lawyer
Gyula Ocskay, CESCI
Mihály Szalai, Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture

Document relating to the meeting of the working group can be downloaded:

Presentation – Results of the questionnaire

4. Evaluation and development of information systems

One of the main conclusion of the project from 2016 was that in the most cases the biggest obstacle of cooperation is the nonsufficient information of people who live in border regions. We saw in numerous cases that the mentioned problems, articulated by the stakeholders, actually did not exist. In other cases, insufficient information led to problems that hard to solve. Consequently, we consider that there should be a progress also in the domain of information.
Content of the project element:

comprehensive examination and analysis of the existing EU, national and regional border area information;
drawing up of a proposal in order to eliminate information gaps through integration of internet available information.

Results / Information systems (2nd milestone)

The study (Information systems) prepared in the frames of this subproject can be downloaded by clicking on the picture below (in Hungarian).

Results of the subproject were summarized in the following points. Click on the text for details.

Objective of the subproject

One of the main conclusions of the 2016 Legal Accessibility project was that in most cases insufficiency of information generates the biggest obstacle of cooperation for people living in border areas. Therefore, the first horizontal proposal of the project aims to improve information mechanisms.

Within the project in 2017, the objective of the subproject, “supporting the creation of a legal information background in order to help the everyday life of border areas”, was to review, to analyse the electronic information systems that are related to everyday cross-border life situations, and to evaluate the contemporary solutions; to articulate proposal on the basis of identified information in order to terminate the shortage within the domain of information.

The authors wanted to achieve the followings:

to identify the main formal options of receiving information for the participants in cross-border mobility,
to see the condition of the information systems on systematic level,
to identify those life situation, where information gaps are relevant,
begin to prepare the development of information opportunities for the participants in cross-border mobility.

On the one hand, the subproject fulfilled its objectives, namely it reviewed the main official information opportunities and it articulated development opportunities. At the same time, it became clear that huge number of various official online platforms were established across Europe which mainly, or with multiple purposes, aimed to inform the citizens on various levels. To find and identify these online platforms are mainly depend on fortune (do the citizens find the appropriate platform). Subsequently, this pattern embodies a risk that the prepared study could not fully review the information systems. On the other hand, it significantly complicates the orientation practice for cross-border mobility participants. At the same time, integration of information sources has been already started at the EU level which is expected to establish an integrated digital client service around 2025.

Presentation of the activities that were implemented within the frame of the subproject

The main activity within the frame of the subproject was the compilation of a study. In this study, CESCI staff analysed the Internet appearance of information which related to everyday life situations in the domain of cross-border mobility, and they made suggestions on the basis of the analysis. During the preparation of the study, various research, questionnaire, analysis, evaluation and negotiation activities were implemented.

The main findings and suggestions of the study

The study, which was prepared within the frame of the subproject, can be divided into three major parts.

In the first part, CESCI staff analysed the conditions of internet information. Actuality and relevance of the subproject is justified by the growing tendency of cross-border mobility which has generated new demands for information by the citizens. In many cases, non-locally-based information requirements can be provided by e-information within the context of e-governance. Creation and diffusion of e-governance were substantially supported by the information boom that happened in the past decades and by dramatic change of the sources of information. The study briefly reviews all three topics.

Analysis of the situation continued with an overview of the regulatory environment which included Hungarian strategic documents and legislations, besides the most important European Union strategic documents. It can be claimed on the basis of the analysis of the regulatory environment that the decision-makers clearly aim to create a user-friendly e-governance. The members of the European Union have their own strategies for developing their e-governance practices; although, the EU eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 contains common elements. One of these principles is the following, “enabling cross-border mobility with interoperable digital public services”. The study, prepared within the frame of the subproject, reached almost the same result as the findings of the action plan:

“Currently Single Market-related information, advice, problem-solving mechanisms, contact points and procedures do not operate as a whole but are dispersed, incomplete, not sufficiently inter-connected and not consistently user-friendly – both at EU and national level. It is therefore difficult for users to find the right information and assistance required.” [EU eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020]

The study continued with the review of existing evaluation systems. The review starts from the conclusion that the rise of the e-governance systems went hand in hand with the self-evident need to quantify, as well as to prioritize the results. After a brief methodological introduction, four international benchmark methodologies were reviewed, with special reference to the results of Hungary. The following conclusions can be deduced for Hungary from the summary of the benchmark results:

Hungary performs poorly in the domain of e-democracy;
in contrast, the government outstandingly performs well in handling and resolving cross-border issues;
cross-border information supply in Hungary is somewhat below the EU average, nevertheless, in comparison with the neighbouring countries – excepting Austria – our lagging is not serious in spite of our linguistic isolation; however, there could be and should be improvement in many ways in this area;
in the process of creating Single Digital Gateway, lag of Hungary is not significant in comparison with the EU average; although, the situation in the sphere of information services that directly help cross-border cooperation (the aspect for which the present study was also prepared) is far worse than in the case of the neighbouring Union countries and occasionally in non-EU countries.

After investigating the regulatory environment, the existing information systems were analysed. Altogether, we analysed 16 information platforms within the study. The narrowly-focused sectoral portals were not subjects of our study. At the same time, the study deals with the official online law directory of the European Union and Hungary. Besides the European Union and domestic platforms, we also reviewed those pages that specifically aim to inform the participants who are involved within cross-border mobility, and they can be only partly identified as EU or national initiatives.

In the second part, based on the experience that was gained during the tasks of the first part, the authors evaluated the existing electronic information systems by two methods. It was common in the two evaluations that both of the methods approached the quality of information from the life situations that are relevant to cross-border mobility. The first (external) evaluation applied the so called mystery shopping. The second (internal) evaluation involved staff of the Ministry of Interior and it surveyed the official Hungarian platforms of general information. Implementation of the internal evaluation, next to the external one, was considered as important by the authors. On the basis of the learned lessons, the authors thought if the information seeker cannot find any information, it does not automatically mean that information is not formally included within the information system. Joint use of both evaluation methods allowed us to explore the language availability of specific life situation and information.

The external method of mystery shopping provides an overview about a citizen of a neighbouring country, whether he wants to engage in certain life situations in Hungary (e.g. participate in the education process, renting a flat), and the level and depth of electronic information that is available about a particular life situation in his own language. The external evaluation was implemented in the following steps:

Task of external evaluation started by the development of the mystery shopping method. Within this frame, life situations were identified on the basis of the relating literature, on the other hand life situations were identified on the basis of the experiences of the first legal accessibility project. Steps of the mystery shopping were laid down in this phase.
Identification of circles of mystery shopping, contacting the mystery buyers. Basis of the methodology was to search the Hungarian content from abroad. That means searches were implemented in the official language of the neighbouring countries (e.g. in Romanian or in Slovak language), as well as in the foreign language that is the most spoken and used in the region, namely in English language. Thus, implementation of the mystery shopping needed users, who use the given languages as native speakers.
Implementation of the mystery shopping composed of the following nine linguistic domains:
- raw translation of specific life situations into the language of the search,
- entering the raw search phrase(s) into Google[1], running the search,
- clarification of search phrase(s) in case of need,
- the qualitative assessment of the “strongest” result relating to the particular life situation, whereby the following values can be given according to the page, where the relevant information on the life situation can be found in the search language:
  - A = official Hungarian site
  - B = official site of another country
  - C = official EU site
  - D = nonofficial site
  - Z = the search did not resulted in any meaningful finding
- Summarization and evaluation of the results of the mystery shopping.

The main findings of the external mystery shopping were the following ones:

based on the lessons learned from the mystery shopping, it can be expressed that most of the official information on individual life situations is available in Hungarian language;
through internet search, official Hungarian information in English language can be found for half of the analysed life situations;
information on official Hungarian sites in the languages of the neighbouring countries is very limited;
on the basis of experience, the role of official information platforms is also significant in the neighbouring countries, information published by the embassies in some cases;
in case of the EU Member States, the various EU official information platforms have important complementary role;
there is no relevant information for third of the identified life situations in Slovenian, in Slovakian and in Romanian language, and for a quarter of life situations in Serbian language.

The internal evaluation, implemented by the operators[2], gives information about official Hungarian information platform, namely what kind of information, relating to specific life situations, can be found and language availability of information. The internal evaluation was carried out in the following steps:

The internal evaluation started with the development of the methodology. Within the frame of this development, those life situations were identified that should be examined. On the one hand, life situations were identified on the basis of the relating literature, on the other hand they were identified on the basis of the experiences which were gained during the first legal accessibility project. Criteria of the evaluation were also laid down in this phase.
Establishing of contacts with professional evaluators. During the consultation with professional evaluators, we decided to carry out the evaluation. CESCI submitted to the experts the preliminary list of platform for which it requested to implement internal evaluation. The list of platform, which became the object of analysis, was slightly modified by the experts.
Internal evaluation of five platforms (1818 Governmental Hotline, Your Europe, magyarorszag.hu, SZÜF, EUGO Hungary) was implemented through the following steps:
- To identify the feature of available information on the given life situation within a given platform:
  - 1: no information
  - 2: the person concerned is further forwarded to the website of the competent institution
  - 3: the person concerned is further forwarded to the administrator of the competent institution
  - 4: the platform offers rarely updated information
  - 5: the platform offers a regularly updated information
  - 6: immediate answer (telephone, e-mail) is given to the interested
  - 7: they give feedback to the interested party within the foreseeable time (calling back, email the person concerned).
- To identify the language features of available information on the given life situation within a given platform
  - A: in Hungarian language
  - B: in English language
  - C: in other language
  - D: in all the official languages of the European Union
- Summary, valuation of the internal evaluation results.

The most important conclusions of the internal evaluation:

a substantial lack of information can be identified in case of every five life situations; there is little available information in the case of individual life situations within the analysed platforms^[3]: rental contract, tuition for public education, nursery and kindergarten fees, purchase of real estate, tolling system, foreign car license, recognition of foreign qualifications received abroad;
in case of numerous life situation, there is no information in any language on any level: purchase of real estate, tolling system, foreign license of car, recognition of professional qualifications received abroad, voluntary activity required for graduation in Hungary, rental contract, tuition for public education, kindergarten and nursery fees;
English information about life situation is only a few;
multilingualism is represented with low volume, content is mainly available only in Hungarian language; a substantive exception is represented by the 1818 Governmental Hotline and Your Europe;
information levels that are provided by each platform are heterogeneous, uncoordinated;
information content and information roles are split between various portals.

In the third part, the authors made proposals within the following themes with the aim to overcome the lack of information (detailed description of the proposals see in the “Summary of subproject results”):

definition of the ideal cross-border information platform,
better communication of the existing information services,
support of the appropriate content,
filling the information gaps that were identified on the basis of evaluations,
cooperation with the embassies of the neighbouring countries,
developing of a Personalized Administrative Structure.

[1] In 2017, market share of Google Search exceeded 90% in Europe. Source: http://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share/all/europe/2016

[2] The possibility of internal evaluation was identified by a consultation with the competent employees of the Deputy Secretary of State for Informatics of the Ministry of Interior, as well as with the employees of the National Infocommunications Service Company.

[3] According to the external evaluation, official information regarding toll system is also available in more languages on other platforms.

Summary of the subproject results

The most important result of the subproject was that it empirically revealed that what kind of online information gaps make difficulties in the domain of informing those participants who are involved within cross-border mobility around Hungary. The most serious obstacles, challenges were identified on the basis of evaluation and potential answers and proposals were identified, too. The relationship between the revealed challenges and proposals is summarized in the following figure by the authors:

The first group of challenges (marked with claret colour) requires the improvement, strengthening and development of content in different ways. Challenges grouped within the second groups (marked with blue colour) require methodological and practical development. It can be seen from the figure that each proposal can handle multiple challenges at one time, and solution of an obstacle can be brought by different proposals.

For example, proposals may contribute to the solution of the challenge related to major information shortage in the following ways:

As it is visible, individual proposals are useful on their own; however, their best influence can be achieved and expressed through their synergy. Similar logical chains can be formulated in the domains of other challenges, too.

Fulfilment of the identified indicators of the subproject

Analysis and proposal relating to internet appearance of legal information in the domain of different life situations: 1 analysis and proposal / 1 analysis and proposal

Possibilities for continuing the subproject

On the basis of the articulated proposals and the identified difficulties, the following continuation option is conceivable.

To conduct a similar internal assessment which was carried out in the domain of general information platforms in the framework of the project, for the sectoral information / administration websites.
To launch a marketing campaign in order to familiarize the existing information systems.
To establish a working group for supporting appropriate information content.
To initiate cooperation in order to create joint information solutions with the embassies of the neighbouring states.
Putting together concrete proposals for the planned content with minimum completion of the new e-administration structure, which is expected to be launched in 2018.

Completion of indicators (Second milestone)

Harmonization of EGTC-legislation

Analysis of the Serbian EGTC legal environment: 1 analysis / 1 analysis
International conference on EGTC (Serbia): 1 conference / 1 conference
Number of participants at the EGTC conference: 60 persons / 144 persons
Legislative proposal: 1 proposal / 1 proposal

Healthcare integration

Ad-hoc health care working group: 1 working group / 1 working group
Number of meetings of the health care working group: 4 meetings / 4 meetings
Number of invited experts into the ad-hoc working group: 10 persons / 12 persons
A regulatory and policy document on cross-border transport of patient: 1 regulatory and policy document / 1 regulatory and policy document

Local products

Local Products Working Group: 1 working group / 1 working group
Number of invited experts into the Local Products Working Group: 10 persons / 15 persons
Number of meetings of the Local Products Working Group: 4 meetings / 4 meetings
A comprehensive policy and legal recommendation that helps the cross-border integration of small producers: 1 comprehensive policy and legal recommendation / 1 comprehensive policy and legal recommendation

Information systems

Analysis and proposal relating to internet appearance of legal information in the domain of different life situations: 1 analysis and proposal / 1 analysis and proposal

Concerning the whole project

Final report: 1 pc / 1 pc

Legal accessibility

Results / Harmonization of EGTC-legislation (2nd milestone)

Objective of the subproject

Presentation of the activities that were implemented within the frame of the subproject

1. Study on exploring and analysing the Serbian legislation and its environment ratifying the Madrid Convention

2. Legislative proposal for the applicability of the EGTC Regulation in Serbia

3. Organization of an international conference on the EGTC Regulation

Summary of the subproject results

Fulfilment of the identified indicators of the subproject

Possibilities for continuing the subproject

Results / Healthcare integration (2nd milestone)

Objective of the subproject

Presentation of the activities that were implemented within the frame of the subproject

Summary of the subproject results

The starting point of the subproject

Contribution of the expert working group

The main findings and suggestions of the study

Fulfilment of the identified indicators of the subproject

Possibilities for continuing the subproject

Working group meetings (Healthcare integration)

1st working group meeting – Budapest, 6 July 2017

2nd working group meeting – Budapest, 13 September 2017

3rd working group meeting – Budapest, 11 October 2017

4th working group meeting – Budapest, 23 November 2017

Data collection (Healthcare integration)

Results / Local products (2nd milestone)

Objective of the subproject

Presentation of the activities that were implemented within the frame of the subproject

Summary of the subproject results

The starting point of the subproject

Consumers’ and producers’ views – the results of the questionnaire

Contribution of the expert working group

The main findings and suggestions of the study

Fulfilment of the identified indicators of the subproject

Possibilities for continuing the subproject

Meetings of the working group (local products)

1st meeting of the local products working group (20th of June, 2017)

2nd meeting of the local products working group (4th of July, 2017)

I. Discussed topics at the meeting

II. Suggestions for further continuation

3rd meeting of the local products working group (2nd of October, 2017)

Comments on the results of the study

Comments on the questionnaire

Documents relating to the meeting of the working group can be downloaded:

4th meeting of the local products working group (28th of November, 2017)

Document relating to the meeting of the working group can be downloaded:

Results / Information systems (2nd milestone)

Objective of the subproject

Presentation of the activities that were implemented within the frame of the subproject

The main findings and suggestions of the study

Summary of the subproject results

Fulfilment of the identified indicators of the subproject

Possibilities for continuing the subproject

Concerning the whole project

Honlapunk a Külgazdasági és Külügyminisztérium támogatásával készült.

1^st working group meeting – Budapest, 6 July 2017

2^nd working group meeting – Budapest, 13 September 2017