From the 2026 budget audit
673 millió Ft to fund the consultation between organised interest groups and government
A state budget line for the apparatus of social dialogue — forums between the government, employer associations, and trade unions — funded by the general taxpayer rather than by the voluntary membership organisations that participate.
Roughly 168 Ft per taxpayer per year — 673 millió Ft total to finance a consultation process whose participants are voluntary organisations with their own membership revenue.
What you see — and what you don't
The seen: structured dialogue forums in which employer associations and trade unions meet government regularly, with the state covering the administrative cost. The unseen: the four million taxpayers whose SZJA and SzocHo fund a transfer to the organised membership associations — bodies that already collect dues and have their own resources to represent their members.
Objection
"Social dialogue is how workers' and employers' voices reach government — defunding it silences them."
Answer
Employer associations and trade unions are voluntary organisations; their members pay dues precisely to fund representation. The consultation forums do not require a state budget line to exist — they require that the organised parties choose to show up, which they have every incentive to do. State financing of the process is a transfer from every taxpayer to the specific associations that sit at the table. The forums continue after the cut; the participants fund their own participation.
Share if you think voluntary interest groups should fund their own representation, not claim it from general tax.
The analyst's verdict
Social-dialogue tasks
Rationale
A line funding "social-dialogue" activities — the state-financed apparatus of consultation forums between government, employer associations, and trade unions. Employer associations and trade unions are voluntary membership organisations; their members can and do fund their own representation, and the forums in which they engage government do not require a state budget line to exist. State financing of the dialogue process is a transfer to organised interest groups, funded diffusely from general tax. The line is small and has no protected contractual counterparties — an immediate cut on principle.
Transition mechanism
Eliminate in the 2026 budget cycle. The consultation forums continue; the participating organisations fund their own participation, as voluntary associations do.
Affected groups
Employer associations and trade unions that currently draw on the line — voluntary organisations able to fund their own activity.
Free Society Institute
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