On 3 May 2019 in Bucharest, László György, Minister of State for Economic Strategy and Regulation at the Ministry for Innovation and Technology urged the reduction of the administrative burdens of businesses and the simplification of the EU’s grant system.

A two-day informal meeting for EU ministers for competitiveness was held in the Romanian capital. The delegations reviewed the types of grants that Member States regard as necessary for boosting businesses and the methods by which the contribution of businesses to the European Union’s competitiveness could be enhanced.

Mr György said in the past few weeks he had been on a tour of the country, as part of which he had met with hundreds of entrepreneurs and had explored their needs. Based on the experiences of the tour, it is possible to conclude that administrative burdens as well as the complexity and length of EU enterprise development projects present the greatest difficulties. Therefore, on a policy level we must focus primarily on these solutions. Access to finance and the lack of information on new technologies and opportunities pose further challenges. In order to address these problems, Hungary is preparing a new SME strategy which seeks to create, inter alia, a business-friendly regulatory and taxation environment and to facilitate access to finance. We must also lay more emphasis on measures that encourage the enhancement of the innovation and digital performance of small and medium-sized businesses.

The Minister of State highlighted that businesses are competitive if their knowledge is also competitive. Entrepreneurial skills and the ability of independent thinking can be improved, and in this education in school and training courses for entrepreneurs play an important role. He agreed that it is necessary to eliminate any unjustified obstacles on the single market, while we must equally avoid creating new obstacles such as the Posted Workers Directive and the planned provisions of the Mobility Package which impose a disproportionately large burden primarily on small and medium-sized enterprises.

Mr György said regarding the competitiveness of the EU’s internal market and European industry that one of the main obstacles to the EU’s competitiveness is the difference between the levels of advancement of Member States. This is why it is important to further strengthen cohesion which supports economic convergence among the Member States and serves the best interests of the whole of the European Union.

(Ministry of Innovation and Technology, Communications)