Hungary submitted a Partnership Agreement providing the framework for the utilization of EU resources in 2014-2020 to the European Commission, and calls for tenders are expected to be published as of this autumn, Minister of State Zoltán Cséfalvay said at a press conference.
The Chief Negotiator of the 2014-2020 EU development period added that operative programmes laying down the objectives, priorities and funding of individual fields are also planned to be submitted at the end of March. The documents are currently being finalized, he pointed out.
In the new EU fiscal period, Hungary will utilize as much as HUF 7480bn in total, originating from structural funds and cohesion funds as well as from domestic own funds, Zoltán Cséfalvay stated.
He stressed that during preliminary talks Hungarian interests could be enforced in three key areas. As a consequence, 60 percent of available funds can be spent directly on economic development.
The European Commission has also recognized that employment can only be improved if the issue is handled within the context of economic development instead of addressing it as a social problem, as it used to be regarded.
The Commission could also be convinced that following the regional decentralization process, which has been completed in Hungary, county-level planning and implementation can best befit local conditions.
Among the seven programmes, the total fund of the Economic Development and Innovation Operation Programme (GINOP) is the largest with some HUF 2720bn. However, the total amount to be allocated for direct economic development is HUF 4430bn, as funding from other operative programmes can also be disbursed for this goal, Zoltán Cséfalvay said.
The second largest programme, the Regional and Urban Development Programme (TOP), has a fund of some HUF 1160bn, the two-thirds of which will be directly devoted to enterprise development.
The Minister of State emphasised that at least 15 percent of total funding will be spent on bolstering SMEs. It is an important change -- in the opinion of Zoltán Cséfalvay -- that instead of the formerly prevalent general enterprise development concept the current policy will target certain enterprise groups and formulate regional and sectoral funding criteria more precisely.
15 percent of total funding is earmarked for the creation of jobs, one-and-a-half times more than in 2007-2013. 11 percent of total will be disbursed for R&D&I, an amount three times higher than in the previous EU fiscal period. Some 9 percent of total is planned to be spent on improving energy efficiency, double the former amount, and 4 percent of total – also double the former amount -- will be allocated for the direct development of the IT sector, he said.
Among the significant changes the Minister of State singled out that some HUF 736bn, some 10 percent of total, will be made avaialable as financial instruments. This means refundable instruments, such as preferential loans and loan guarantees.
The other operative programmes have total funding as follows, Zoltán Cséfalvay continued: Integrated Transport Development Operative Programme (KOP): HUF 1034bn, the Environmental and Energy Efficiency Operative Programme (KEHOP): HUF 1120bn, Human Resources Development Operative Programme (EFOP): HUF 885bn, Public Administration and Development Operative Programme (KÖFOP): HUF 300bn and Competitive Central Hungary Operative Programme (VEKOP): HUF 270bn.
(Ministry for National Economy)
