“Hungary is ensuring that EU resources are well-spent: the full budget of some 9000 billion forints (EUR 27.8bn) available for the current programming period has already been awarded to tender applicants, but we regard the proposed restructuring of the budget for the upcoming multi-annual financial framework and the planned reallocation of resources as unacceptable”, Minister of State Tamás Schanda from the Ministry for Innovation and Technology said at a forum in Esztergom on Tuesday.
Mr. Schanda also reported on the fact that 61 percent of the awarded funding has already been paid out to successful applicants, and pointed out that at a similar stage during the previous 7-year budget the left-wing liberal government had only achieved 18 percent in pay-outs.
“The European Commission’s budget plan includes a reduction of some 10 percent in cohesion funding, and Hungary and a few other countries that are conforming to regulations would receive 24 percent less funding for this purpose”, the Minister of State for European Union Development Projects told the press. He said that in his opinion it was a huge mistake on the part of the EU leadership that they allowed Great Britain to leave the EU, but have allowed the immigrants into Europe. “The EC is citing the former as the reason for the significant decrease in cohesion and agricultural funding, while it plans to spend the money it saves on integrating migrants and on a 7 percent increase in its own bureaucracy, which Hungary regards as unacceptable”, he said.
According to Mr. Schanda, it would not be a problem if the upcoming multiannual financial framework were decided upon by the MEPs who are victorious at next year’s European Parliament elections, in view of the fact that he believes that advances can be expected by political forces who are fresher than the current leadership and who have a more forward-looking vision for the continent.
“Hungary would like Hungary to by one of Europe’s top five most liveable and most competitive countries by 2030, and this requires an increase in the ratio of Hungarian-owned SMEs and their competitiveness, more efficient innovation, IT-based development projects, the exploitation of the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence, a quality education and family support system, and the further reinforcement of public health”, Mr. Schanda added.
(MTI)