In an interview with public news channel M1 on Sunday, Minister of State for Environmental Affairs, Agricultural Development and Hungaricums Zsolt V. Németh said that Hungary spends more money on environmental protection than Austria or Germany, and emphasised that this is also the goal for the coming years.

The Minister of State explained that the Government has decided to allocate EU funds of HUF 46 billion to environmental protection during the 2014–2020 cycle; this amount is HUF 8 billion higher than the funds allocated in recent years.

Mr. Németh pointed out that, according to an OECD study comparing countries’ environmental protection expenditure related to GDP and public expenditure respectively, Hungary spends more on this than Austria or Germany – countries which are both known for their environmental awareness.

He added that throughout the current programming period Hungary will be spending even more on environmental protection than before.

(Ministry of Agriculture)