WORKING PROGRAMME OF THE FOUNDATION OF EUROPEAN STUDIES (EUROPE 2002)

1. The Foundation of European Studies (Europe 2002) operates in four fields of activity:

research and analytical surveys,

publications,

the organization and management of conferences and workshops, and

the development of international relations.

These activities are not separate, but linked into and based upon one another. The main pillar is independent research. The findings, conclusions and policy recommendations deriving from this appear in publications and through all means of disseminating information, shaping public opinion and advising on policy matters.

2. The research activities will be launched immediately after the establishment of the new Board of Trustees. Though they will depend on the availability of financial resources, they will be conducted with great intensity. This objective is motivated partly by a desire to ensure domestic and international recognition for the Foundation and make it known in professional circles, and partly by the urgent need for basic analytical work in well-defined fields at the present, critical stage in Hungary's preparations for membership of the European Union (EU).
The scope and intensity, and the number and depth of the research activities to be started immediately will be determined by the available financial resources. A minimum of three to four major research topics will be initiated in 1999, so that preliminary findings can be published and disseminated at conferences before the end of the year.

3. The main selected fields of research:

(a) Research on the following subjects is to start in 1999:

(aa) Strategic, security and political requirements and tasks following from EU membership, with special reference to relations between the EU and Nato and the future of the Transatlantic framework.

(ab) The impact of Hungary's EU membership on neighbouring non-EU countries: new opportunities for cooperation, and potential advantages and drawbacks according to various scenarios.

(ac) A comprehensive survey of temporary derogations, with special attention to interdisciplinary comparisons and the weighing of different derogation needs. Since one prior condition for early membership is to define clearly, during the negotiations with Brussels, a small number of fundamental derogations, what is required is a strategy of 'replacing' otherwise justified demands for derogations with applications for requisite economic-policy measures and future EU transfers.

(ad) A comprehensive survey of the member countries' interests for and against enlargement in general and Hungary's membership in particular. Detailed analysis is needed to chart the pressure groups in the EU countries, operating with professional, political, regional and other motives. Such a chart is the only adequate basis for an efficient publicity campaign to protect Hungary's interests and reduce (or eliminate) the cases perceived as running counter to the interests of pressure groups in present member-countries. Since these perceptions fundamentally shape the official view on enlargement in member-countries and consequently produce relevant inputs into the Commission's negotiating position, it is urgent to present research findings as soon as possible.

(b) Depending on the availability of financial resources, research in the following fields has to begin in 1999 or later:

(ba) Internal transformation of the EU and its impact on the framework and conditions of enlargement. This topic includes priority areas, such as the common agricultural policy, monetary union, and institutional changes, in which Hungary's interests need defining and elaborating.

(bb) Various enlargement scenarios, with special regard to the eventuality that the first-round group of 5 + 1 countries may accede at different times, and Hungary's tasks arising from this.

(bc) Interdisciplinary, quantitative and qualitative analysis of 'hard-core' issues of negotiations on accession. This is essential because compromises with long-term, extremely important consequences will have to be reached even in the final hours of negotiations.

(bd) Cost-benefit analyses of Hungary's accession to the EU, based on different dates of entry (2002, enlargement delayed until 2005, enlargement after 2005).

(be) The impact on the nature, time schedule, and conditions of the enlargement process of global political and economic developments. Particular emphasis needs to be placed on the Kosovo crisis, the future evolution of economic and political factors in the transforming Central and Eastern European countries, and the consequences of the single European currency.

4. The Foundation has to develop from the outset broad publication activity at a high professional level. The core material for publication consists of the findings of research financed by the Foundation. At the same time, a suitable forum needs to be created for Hungarian and foreign experts dealing with European integration. So two parallel publication ventures are needed: a 'working paper' series, and a professional journal to be published at regular intervals in several thousand copies. (Both will need to include a resumé and table of contents in English. Depending on the financial resources available, the publication of a journal in English may also be considered.)

5. The Foundation can only become a well-known and influential factor in Hungarian politics, economics and society during the membership preparations if it is a regular participant of public life, expressing views on issues belonging to its scope of research, and creating a forum for disseminating its findings and for dialogue between different opinions and approaches. Here intensive relations need establishing with key, opinion-making channels of communication (the press, broadcasting, television, the Internet and so on).

With the organization of conferences, the Foundation should host events of four kinds:

(a) Quarterly one-day conferences of national, Central and Eastern European, or pan-European importance. The spring and the autumn conferences, based mainly on the research conclusions of the Foundation, would be devoted to surveying selected, extremely timely issues in Hungary's preparations for EU membership. The summer and winter conferences could be linked to the country holding the EU Presidency, focusing more on the broader implications of European integration, with special regard to its regional consequences and effects on Hungary.

(b) Monthly workshops involving a smaller circle of experts, but also open to the media, to discuss current topics (including the Foundation's own research reports).

(c) Presentations of issues that attract wide public interest, and dialogue with various sections of society, including professional organizations, civil initiatives, regional representations, and so on.

(d) Lectures, which renowned Hungarian and foreign politicians, experts, business representatives and scholars will be invited to deliver.

Events of types (a) and (b) will be organized and held by the Foundation itself. It may be convenient for other organizations to be involved in (c) and (d).

6. The Foundation needs to build international relations in the following fields:

(a)Regular consultations with the European Commission, the European Parliament and other EU bodies.

(b)Based on existing contacts, strong bilateral relations with various forums in EU member-countries, focusing on relevant issues of Hungary's accession.

(c)Special attention has to be paid to establishing an institutional framework for regular discussions with neighbouring non-EU countries, whether they are expected to join the EU at the same time as Hungary (Slovenia) or at a later date (Romania, Slovakia and perhaps Croatia), or likely to remain outside the enlarging EU for the foreseeable future (Yugoslavia, Ukraine and perhaps Croatia).

(d)A distinctive role has to be given to relations with the international business community.