EU-US Customs Deal Harms Both Europe and Hungary, Says Head of PM’s Office

Gergely Gulyás, head of the Prime Minister’s Office, believes that the customs agreement between the European Union and the United States is contrary to Europe’s interests and detrimental to Europe and Hungary.

He stated on Thursday in Budapest that, had Hungary been able to negotiate on its own behalf, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán could have secured a better deal with U.S. President Donald Trump than the one reached by the European Commission.

President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have announced a sweeping trade deal that imposes 15% tariffs on most European goods. https://t.co/ooasGxwfAL

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It is part of the European Union’s humiliation that while the EU grants the U.S. duty-free access, it accepts a 15 percent tariff on its own exports. Furthermore, the European Commission has committed itself to purchasing significant quantities of goods, primarily energy and other products, from the United States,

he noted.

The minister described this part of the agreement as legally questionable. He pointed out that while customs policy is a shared EU competence, and the Commission therefore has the power to conclude agreements in this area,

investment and energy policy are the competence of the Member States, and the Commission has neither the means nor the right to enforce the commitments made.

Due to the EU’s shared competence, the part of the agreement relating to customs also applies to Hungary, but the other parts do not impose any obligations on Hungary, pointed out Gergely Gulyás.

“The Brussels–Washington Agreement is Disastrous for Europe”