As far as country-specific recommendations are concerned, Hungary has achieved significant results, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga stated following an Ecofin session in Brussels. Among others, he said, the Commission omitted from the report their former recommendation on fiscal adjustments totalling 1 percent of GDP.

“Our economic achievements have convinced the European Commission that such adjustment is unnecessary, as Hungary can keep the state budget deficit below 3 percent of GDP, inflation is at a record low and the employment situation has improved,” he stressed.

Speaking about recommendations on business environment, the Minister called the fact that e-public procurement regulation has been endorsed another good result. The Commission also modified its view on investment activity and acknowledged that investment activity cannot be said to be lacklustre in general, only in certain sectors.

The Minister also pointed out that the Commission recognized that Hungarian measures regarding employment and unemployment benefits have been aimed at boosting labour market activity. The fact that the number of those in employment reached more than 4.1 million and the unemployment rate has declined shows that these measures have been effective, Mihály Varga emphasised.

Concerning the Commission’s presentation of the draft EU budget for 2015, the Minister stated it was in the interest of Hungary to have a budget adopted which can ensure the scheduled payment of programmes’ funding in the entire year of 2015. In the previous period, he said, it often happened that – due to lack of resources -- the Commission failed to meet the payment request deadlines of member states. This put pressure on state budgets and had a negative ripple effect on beneficiaries, he added.

The EU budget’s expenditures total EUR 145bn, of which in 2015 the Commission proposes to spend EUR 59bn on sustainable development and natural resources, EUR 66bn on the so-called smart and inclusive economic growth (which mainly covers fields such as improving competitiveness, boosting employment and spending on social and regional cohesion), EUR 8.6bn on administration, EUR 8bn on various Global Europe development projects and EUR 2bn on supporting and improving security within the EU.

(Ministry for National Economy)