How much do watchdogs bite? The Relationship between the EEA and Norway Grants and Hungarian Environmental NGOs Júlia Szabó Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Philosophy in Culture, Environment and Sustainability Centre for Development and the Environment University of Oslo Blindern, Norway May 2013 iii Table of Contents ABSTRACT vi LIST OF ABREVIATIONS vii LIST OF FIGURES viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Civil Society and International Assistance 1 1.2. Definition Matters: Who is Civil who is Non-Profit? 5 1.3. Theoretical Overview 10 1.4. Rationale 15 1.5. Research Methods 17 1.5.1. Choosing the Cases 19 1.5.2. Sources of Data 19 1.6. The Structure of the Thesis 23 CHAPTER 2: THE “REGIME OF GOODNESS” AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN EASTERN EUROPE 2.1. The EEA and Norway Grants 25 2.2. Support to Hungarian Civil Society 28 2.3. Development Assistance and Foreign Policy 29 2.3.1. The EEA and Norway Grants – Realist Theory 31 2.3.2. Enter Humane Internationalism 34 2.3.3. Synthesis 39 2.4. Foreign Assistance + Civil Society = Democracy? 42 2.5. Modern Evolution of Hungarian Environmental Civil Society Organizations 47 2.5.1. The Hungarian Environmental Movement: Sea-Change 47 2.5.2. From Environmental Dissidents to Grassroots Globalization 50 iv 2.5.3. Present Situation of the Environmental NGO Sector 53 2.5.3.1 Scope of Cooperation Among ENGOs 54 2.5.3.2. Relations with the State – Participation in Policy-Making 56 2.5.3.3. Relations with the State – Financial Support 59 2.5.3.4. ENGOs' Relations with the Business Sector 63 2.5.3.5. Hungarian ENGOs and European Relations 64 CHAPTER 3: BUDAPEST AIRPORT vs. RÁKOSHEGY 3.1. Introduction 68 3.1.2. The Expansion of the Airport and the Problems it Created 70 3.1.3. The Environmental Licensing Process and the Role of the Environmental Authority 72 3.1.4. Legal Harmonization 72 3.1.5. The Latest Creative Legislation 75 3.2. A Local Association Swings into Action 77 3.3. Discussion 80 3.3.1. Monitoring Power 80 3.3.2. The Role of the Grants – Contribution to Monitory Democracy 84 3.3.3. The Court Case – NGO Proved Right 90 3.3.4. Inspiring Others 93 3.4. Conclusion – Taking Stock 94 CHAPTER 4: GAME CHANGERS 4.1. Introducing Energiaklub 96 4.2. Hungarian Energy Challenges 98 4.2.1. The Affordability Challenge: Fuel Poverty and Energy Subsidies 99 4.2.2. Smarter Use of Energy: Renewables and Energy Efficiency 102 4.3. Discussion 105 4.3.1. Theoretical Framework 105 4.3.2. Energiaklub in the Public Sphere 110 v 4.3.3. Critical-Rational Discourse 114 4.3.4. The Role of the Norway Grants 119 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 5. Conclusion 124 REFERENCES 129 APPENDIX 144 vi Abstract The thesis focuses on the relationship between Hungarian environmental NGOs and the EEA and Norway Grants. The study describes and analyses how foreign civil society assistance enabled green organizations to pursue their agendas in order to understand how foreign assistance can potentially contribute to democratic processes. Since Hungary's transition to democracy and market economy in the 1980s, external assistance (especially American foundations and EU funds) has played an important role in the development of the Hungarian non-profit sector. Recent developments, however, endangered the consolidation of Hungarian civil society. Amidst the apathy among civil society actors, the EEA and Norway – the second biggest supporter of civil society today – has meant a ray of hope and offered opportunities for improving the quality of democracy in Hungary. How have environmental NGOs made use of foreign assistance and what have they achieved? The study offers an analysis by applying Keane's and Habermas's civil society theories in two case studies and also touches upon the foreign policy relevance of the grants. vii List of Abbreviations CARDS Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stability in the Balkans CSO Civil Society Organization CEE Central-Eastern Europe CCS Corporate Social Responsibility COMECON Council for Mutual Economic Assistance COR Committee of Regions EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EEA European Economic Area EESC European Economic and Social Committee EFTA European Fee Trade Association EIA Environmental Impact Assessment ENGO Environmental Non-Governmental Organization FIT Feed-In-Tariff FFHD Fauna-Flora-Habitats Directive GMO Genetically Modified Organism IPA Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance IPPCD Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control NCF National Civil Fund NGO Non-Governmental Organization PHARE Poland and Hungary: Assistance for Restructuring their Economies QUANGOs Quasi Non-Profit Organizations RES Renewable Energy Sources WTO World Trade Organization WWF World Wildlife Fund viii List of Figures Figure 1. Areal Image of Budapest Airport ix Acknowledgements The inspiration to write about Hungarian civil society came two years ago, when I attended an elective course at the Department of Political Sciences at the University of Oslo called “Linkages between Politics and Society in Developing Countries”. The thesis is a product of this year-long infatuation with the topic. Several people have helped me in diverse ways but a very special gratitude is due to my supervisor, Nina Witoszek, who was a sympathetic but critical reader all along. My approach has been greatly influenced by her thoughtful attention. Nina has been subjected to many rough drafts of this text and there is no doubt that my thesis has been greatly improved by her useful comments and suggestions. Thank you for your patience, help and support. I would also like to thank the Center for Development and the Environment (SUM) for its generous financial support during my field trip in Budapest and for providing an inspiring study environment during my Master studies. I would like to thank all my interviewees who gave their precious time and knowledge to help me understand Hungarian civil society. Without their help the thesis could never have been realized: Csaba Kiss, Gabriella Eleőd-Faludy, Máté Szentirmai-Zöld, Georgina Gál, Tamás Polgár, Szilvia Sándor, Gyula Szabó, András Lukács, Zsuzsanna Kondor, Zoltán Szabó and Domokos Szollár. I am particularly grateful to Veronika Móra, Mária Csikai, Péter Szili and István Deák since I leaned a lot on their comments. I am also indebted to my friend, Hilde Lønsethagen, for sharing her rich bibliography which she compiled during studying Hungarian civil society for years. A special thanks to Manar Alsaif for her invaluable help in proofreading the text. Last bust not least, I profited a lot from the reactions of my chief critic, Kyrre. I am grateful to him for having gnawed through my text and for pointing out redundant, insensible, missing or biased parts. I would also like to thank my family for putting up with all the time I devoted to the thesis and for helping me combat my occasional despair. Despite all the help, remaining errors and omissions are mine and mine alone. Júlia Szabó x xi 1 1. Introduction It takes six months to create new political institutions, to write a constitution and electoral laws. It may take six years to create a half-way viable economy. It will probably take sixty years to create a civil society. (Ralf Dahrendorf 1990:42) 1.1. Civil Society and International Assistance The literature on Hungarian civil society often starts with the political and economical changes of 1989 and the decades preceding it. In the course of the 1970s and 1980, the concept of “civil society” was reinvented in Eastern Europe – first in Poland and then elsewhere – and rapidly inspired others in the West (Cohen & Arato 1992:487, Howell & Pearce 2001:15, Keane 2004:1, Celichowski 2004:71, Edwards 2011:11). This reinvention was initiated as people rejected the cruelty and corruption of their governments and the concept became a weapon in resisting the oppressive state. Civil society represented the right of self-organization in societies where the totalitarian state denied the very principle (Howell & Pearce 2001:15). As Ernest Gellner argues: Soviets and Eastern Europeans turned to this notion (...) because it did convey, in a concise and very suggestive manner, precisely that which they most lacked and most desired. The aspiration for civil society was born of the social conditions of Eastern Europe and the Soviet world. (Gellner 1994:54) Civil society meant the possibility of human emancipation and held out the promise of a liberal, pluralist democracy. Although these were not Eastern Europeans' only objectives: it was also a prominent desire to transform the conditions of material life and to gain freedom to economic self-management. However, most value was given to democratization and the development of a liberal political sphere (Howell & Pearce 2001:15). With the increasing 2 recognition of political and economic crises in the late 1980s, the culture of silence was gradually replaced with more open dialogue among formerly isolated citizens. A new public arena emerged where social, environmental, cultural and – for the first time – political issues could be openly and critically discussed. In the 1980s a modern, critical dialogue was born in Hungary. (Miszlivetz 2008:98) After the transition to democracy and market economy, numerous studies showed that in most countries civil society played a role in overcoming authoritarian regimes and establishing democratic structures (Paffenholz & Spurk 2006:5). Inspired by the democratic opposition movements in Eastern Europe, donors increasingly focused on the potential role of civil society. “It is only the rediscovery of this ideal in Eastern Europe (...) that has reminded the inhabitants of liberal states on either shore of the northern Atlantic of just what it is that they possess and ought to hold dear” (Gellner 1994:13).