Reform Programmes in Hungary: Lisbon Matters? REFORM PROGRAMMES IN HUNGARY: LISBON MATTERS? Tamás Szemlér Institute for World Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Budapest SUMMARY The National(Lisbon) Reform Programme(NRP) is not the only mid-term economic programme in the EU member states, but one of the partially overlapping and potentially conflicting programmes, being different in their final objectives as well as in their financing. In Hungary, the priorities and planned measures of the NRP have been elaborated in a period where the catching-up process of the economy(through the National Strategic Reference Framework) and the stabilisation of some of the main macroeconomic indicators(through the Convergence Programme) enjoy priority. Until there are no conflicts between the NRP and the two other programmes, the NRP objectives will probably be consistently followed. Strong coordination between the programmes and broad public(professional) debate increases the chance of success for the NRP; nevertheless, in the present situation, logically, it is the other two programmes that enjoy priority- in other words, it is not Lisbon that matters first. INTRODUCTION “Programming” is one of the key words of European integration. In a general sense, it means that actions should not be initiated ad hoc, but as part of a process. The notion of programming is most well-known in the field of structural operations, where it has been one of the fundamental principles since 1988. However, as empirical evidence shows, programming is present in practically any field of European integration: long-term programmes(plans) are more or less regularly elaborated(on regional, national and/or supra-national level) in order to promote development in the field in question. 117