data/hungary.nlembassy.org/English/39#0a45c6db-60a6-4831-afad-7d3dd601f9b6.txt

The revolving door phenomenon in Hungary
A Transparency International Hungary study
News article
| July 11, 2012
Transparency International Hungary’s (TI) most recent study, supported by the Dutch Embassy in Budapest, reveals: Absent adequate regulation, public officials working in the private sector and businessmen working in public administration can breed abuses of office, profiteering, and undue influence.
Transparency International maintains that the movement of employees between
the two sectors is completely natural, yet the international anti-corruption
organisation warns of its risks also. For example, a high-ranking public
official may abuse the powers of his office by favouring a certain company, thus
securing himself a future job with that company. Or a former public official now
working for a private company may influence his former colleagues to reach a
decision in favour of his current employer in a public procurement tender or
when granting authorisations. It can be equally risky when an authority in
charge of regulation and oversight of a market hires decision-makers and
advisors from the companies it supervises and legislation is shaped by their
interests.
The study accounts the reasons for the revolving door phenomenon, the risks
of corruption, domestic, foreign and international regulations, and the
specificities of the Hungarian business sector. It also advances recommendations
for certain actors of the public and private sector for solving the issue. The
study establishes that the demand of economic enterprises for professionals well
versed in politics arises out of helplessness in the face of politics and fickle
legislation.
“The revolving door phenomenon must be regulated to avoid the public
administration becoming slave to private interests,” emphasized Noémi
Alexa, CEO of TI. The anti-corruption policy recently passed by Parliament
touches on the phenomenon only tangentially.
TI is thus prepared to aid the work of the Ministry of Public Administration and
Justice, which is in charge of action against corruption, and to inform noted
figures of the business sector of the results.