The information contained on this page represents the situation as of 31 December 2009 and is a summary of the country report produced by the country expert from the network. The summary can be downloaded here as well.

Contact: 
András  Kádár
E-mail: andras.kadar@helsinki.hu

Hungary is a country of 10 million. Fifteen years after the political transition from a Socialist one-party system into democratic pluralism, Hungary became a member of the European Union. The creation of democratic laws and institutions has been paralleled by an increasing awareness of the principle of equal treatment and non-discrimination.

The ETA approaches the issue of scope from the personal, instead of the material aspect. It prohibits any discrimination in the public sector, so with regard to this sector the statute's scope is in fact broader than that of the equality directives.

The specialised body for the promotion of equal treatment irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (Equal Treatment Authority) started its operation on 1 February 2005. The Authority is a public administrative body with the overall responsibility to ensure compliance with the principle of equal treatment. It is a budgetary organ working under the instruction of the Government, supervised by the Minister of Social and Labour Affairs (hereafter: Minister). It however may not be instructed in relation to the exercise of its duties defined in the ETA.