In the 2014-2020 fiscal period of the European Union Hungary will allocate the 60 percent of EU resources to stimulating growth and the development of the economy, according to the decision of the Government of Hungary. In the fiscal period ending in 2013 only the 16 percent of EU funds were utilized for this goal, said Minister of State at the Ministry for National Economy Zoltán Cséfalvay at a Budapest conference organized by the Hungarian Economic Association on Thursday.

Zoltán Cséfalvay said, the Government intends to spend the remaining 40 percent on development projects related to human resources, environmental protection and energy efficiency. He added that the Government also made the decision to entrust the relevant ministries with the management of operative programmes as of 2014, and thus strategies, relevant policies and execution will be more optimally coordinated.

The concrete amounts of funds for individual development projects cannot be defined yet, the EU heads of state and prime ministers are about to decide on these soon.

The EU has identified five key objectives for the countries receiving development funds with regard to the next EU fiscal period, he said. Among these he mentioned that by 2020 the 2 percent of EU GDP shall be invested in research and development (R&D) and the rate of employment shall reach 75 percent among those aged 20-64 years. Substantial measures shall be implemented in the field of climate protection, such as, for example, increasing to 20 percent the share of renewable energies by 2020, energy efficiency shall be improved by 20 percent and greenhouse gas emissions shall be cut by 20 percent compared to the levels of the 1990s.

The Minister of State also added that by 2020 the school drop-out rate shall be reduced to below 10 percent and it has to be achieved that at least the 40 percent of people aged 30-34 years shall have tertiary education attainment. In addition, poverty and social exclusion shall be combated and it has to be achieved that the number of those living in extreme poverty shall decrease by 20 million by the end of the fiscal period.

In accordance with the five key priorities, said Zoltán Cséfalvay, Hungary undertook to increase the share of R&D spending as of GDP from 1.2 percent in 2011 to 1.8 percent, up the rate of employment from 60.7 percent last year to 75 percent by 2020 and boost the share of those with tertiary education attainment from 28.1 percent last year to 30.3 percent. Speaking of the latter topic the Minister of State underlined that the Government intends to cut the number of school-dropouts to 10 percent from 11.2 percent in 2011 and reduce the number of those living in poverty by 5 percent.

He also added that Hungary wants to increase the share of renewable energies from 8.79 percent last year to 14.65 percent by 2020.

The ultimate goal for the Government is that Hungary shall have sustainable economic growth which is based on production of high added value and which can add new jobs in the coming EU fiscal period, he concluded.

(Ministry for National Economy)