Commission Report 2002 (Hungary)

Economic, social and cultural rights

The legal framework on equal opportunities was strengthened in 2001 with the adoption of the new Labour Law (see Chapter 13 - Social policy and employment). Women represent 45% of the economically active population. They are increasingly participating in active political life. Following the Parliamentary elections of April 2002, the number of women represented in the House has slightly increased (from 31 to 34 seats, representing 8.8%). Another three women became Ministers and one became Speaker of the House. In general the level of women`s political participation is higher in local government than at national level.

A national programme for disabled persons had already been adopted by the Government in 2000, containing measures in the fields of public health, employment, social care, education, traffic, housing and other areas of state administration. Implementation of the programme seems still rather slow; as services for the disabled remain limited and access to public buildings is difficult.

In the area of social dialogue, the new Government indicated its firm intention of improving the involvement of the social partners in the decision-making process. (see chapter 13: Social Policy and employment) For this purpose, the social partners and the Prime Minister signed an agreement on the restructuring of the system of the social dialogue. In a first step the Labour Law was amended in July 2002, extending further the rights of the trade unions. At the same time, the formerly abolished National Interest co-ordination Council was reestablished; its task is to discuss various aspects of economic development, such as matters affecting economic Policy, the budget, taxation, wages, labour related legislation and social benefits. Efforts should be continued to fully respect trade union rights at enterprise level and bipartite dialogue should therefore be further developed.

Hungary is a party to the European Social Charter. It has not yet signed the revised European Social Charter.

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