According to Dialogue for Hungary, the Orbán-family and the Fidesz-clientele should be the ones to pay the sanctions laid out by the European Union after the government was unwilling to implement the EU’s energy efficiency directive into the Hungarian law. While increasing energy efficiency serves everyone’s interest, the lack of it only benefits nuclear lobbying and various gas traders.
The European Commission has decided to turn to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg because Hungary still has not implemented the energy efficiency directive in its internal legislature. This is the law that prescribes an annual energy renewal at 3% of the public institutions; in addition, it would bind energy providers to reach a 1.5% of new energy-savings, primarily by supporting the energy efficiency of households.
The Orbán-cabinet, however, does not at all want households to use less energy. Energy efficiency is out of the question: just now each and every item that would help to lessen energy-use is being wiped out of the national energy strategy. The government and its close economic clientele (from MET – the Hungarian Energy Association – owned by the friends of Viktor Orbán to Elios belonging to István Tiborcz, Mr. Orbán’s son in law) want nuclear power plants and Russian gas, as well as fast-consuming households.
Dialogue for Hungary believes that it would be in the best interest of the country to spend the given resources on energy efficiency investments, keeping to EU regulations, instead of nuclear power plants and gas pipelines. Instead of Brussels, the war of independence should be fought against Fidesz-friendly oligarchs with interests in the energy business; however, unfortunately we cannot count on the Hungarian government in this respect.
27th of March, 2015
Brussels-Budapest
Benedek Jávor, Member of the European Parliament