The Act on the Operation and Financial Management of Political Parties (1989, amended 2014), the Act on the Transparency of Campaign Costs Related to the Election of the Members of the National Assembly (2013) and the Act on Electoral Procedure 2013 are the main laws regulating the funding of political parties in Hungary.

There are some limits on the private income of political parties. There are bans on donations from foreign entities, corporations generally and anonymous donors but donations from trade unions are not banned. There are also prohibitions on donations from various other entities such as budgetary bodies. There are no limits on the amount of donation.

Public funding is available to political parties. This is allocated according to the share of votes in the previous election, the representation in the elected body and the participation in the previous election. The funding may only be used during the election campaign period to cover real costs related to campaign activities. There is also subsidized access to the media and tax relief available as forms of indirect public funding support.

For regulations on spending, there is a ban on vote buying and on some state resources being used in favour or against a political party or candidate. There are limits on the amount a political party can spend.

Parties are required to report on their finances annually. The reports must include details on their finances in relation to election campaigns, must be made public and must in some cases reveal the identity of donors. Reports are overseen by the Court of Account and the State Audit Office. There are sanctions for breaches of the provisions of the law in the form of fines, the loss of public funding and forfeiture.

The Law of Individual Wealth Declaration Obligations (2007) applies the same financial disclosure requirements to all Hungarian public officials. Thus, Head of State, Ministers, MPs, and Civil Servants must declare real estate, movable assets, cash, and debts. They must also disclose income from outside employment, positions on advisory boards, and any firm ownership. Family members are included in the disclosure and must submit a separate declaration

All public officials make their statements upon taking and leaving office, as well as ad hoc. In addition, the Head of State, Ministers, and MPs make updates annually. All public officials face sanctions for late filling, non-filling, and for making false disclosure. These range from having one’s salary retained to being dismissed from office. The Law on the central state administration bodies and members of the Government and the status of the Secretaries of State (2010, amended 201) specifies that the Immunity, Incompatibility and Mandate Supervision Committee functions as depository body for the Head of State, Ministers and MPs. It is tasked with verifying submissions. However, no enforcement body or body for verifying the accuracy of submissions is specified. The financial disclosure statements by all high-level public officials are made publicly available on a website.

No laws on conflict of interests exist for Hungarian Ministers. However, the Constitution (2011, amended in 2013) obliges the Head of State from removing conflicts of interests immediately. It also declares that the office of President is incompatible with any other state, social, economic and political office or assignment, which would prevent engagement in public or private companies. For Members of Parliament, the Law on National Assembly (2012, last amended 2015) requires avoiding conflicts of interests, especially so if linked with other professions. It also states that MPs may not accept gifts if they exceed the value of a monthly salary. The Law on the Public Servants (2011, amended in 2015) makes a general restriction for Civil Servants to avoid conflicts of interests. In addition, it specifies that a Civil Servant cannot be an executive officer or supervisory board member, and is not eligible for public tenders. No legislation exists on participating in decisions that affect private interests or post-employment of public officials.

For the Head of State and Members of Parliament, the National Assembly may vote on a dismissal from mandate with a two-thirds-majority should a violation of conflict of interests exist. In case of violation by Civil Servants, a public warning or reprimand may be imposed. No bodies exist for monitoring or providing guidance, and no enforcement body is specified for the Head of State. For MPs and Civil Servants, the National Assembly Standing Committee and the Hungarian Government Officers Commission respectively function as enforcement bodies.

Hungary's 2011 Constitution establishes the right to information, while Act CXII on the Right of Informational Self-Determination and on Freedom of Information (2011, amended 2015) outlines implementing measures on the freedom of information regime. The scope of the Act encompasses all data control and data processing activities undertaken in Hungary relating to the data of natural persons, as well as data of public interest and data public on grounds of public interest. Data of public interest is defined as information or data registered in any mode or form, concerning activities undertaken by organizations with state or local government responsibilities, as well as other public duties defined in relevant legislation.

Specific exemptions to disclosure are outlined in the aforementioned FOI law, Act CLV on the Protection of Classified Information (2009), and Act LXIII on the Protection of Personal Data and the Publicity of Data of Public Interest (1992). However, there is a public interest test whereby exemptions to disclosure may be overridden in cases where the public interest outweighs the prohibition on disclosure.

Appeals may be filed with the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, and with the courts under certain circumstances.

There are no sanctions specified in the law for violations of FOI provisions.

However, the National Authority shall be responsible for supervising access to public information implementation and promoting the right to information.

The Hungarian public procurement system is regulated by Act CVIII of 2011 on Public Procurement. Additional regulations are laid down in Government Decrees. The public procurement body is the Deputy State Secretariat for Public Procurement that is part of the Ministry of National Development.

The lowest minimum thresholds for conducting a public procurement tender are:

▪         HUF 15 m (ca. EUR 50,000) for goods

▪         HUF 25 m (ca. EUR 80,000) for works

▪         HUF 15 m (ca. EUR 50,000) for services

The minimum number of bidders is 5 for restricted procedures and 3 for negotiated procedures. The minimum submission period is 35 days for open procedures, 30 days for restricted procedures and 30 for negotiated procedures from dispatch date. In case of prior notification issued, the submission period can be shorter. The final beneficial owners have to be disclosed when placing a bid.

There are a few cases for preferential treatment. SMEs can be advantaged and environmental considerations can also alter decisions. Furthermore, there are several options for bid exclusion: not fulfilling interest criteria, not complying with suitability conditions, abnormally low offer price, abnormal undertakings, etc.

In the bid evaluation phase, there are conflict of interest restrictions on the composition of the evaluation committee. However, no form of independence of  the contracting authority is mandated for the evaluation committee.

There is a payable fee in case of an arbitration procedure (the amount depends on the type and amount of the procedure). Decisions are published online at the Public Procurement Authority’s website.