In November 2012 an extraordinary EU Summit will take place on the Multiannual Financial Framework for the period from 2014 to 2020, said Minister of State for EU Affairs Enikő Győri, who participated in an unofficial meeting in the subject.

At the meeting, which was convened by the Cyprus Presidency, the majority of participants agreed not to reduce the amount of cohesion funds in the period in question, in opposition to the Presidency’s proposal. The group of 15 Member States known as the "Friends of Cohesion Policy" was not alone in criticising the Presidency’s intention to reduce cohesion funds in every term.

Mrs. Győri stated that Hungary’s own bad experience has made it aware that the reduction is meaningless from an economic policy viewpoint. She therefore urged the union to focus on employment, competitiveness and convergence in its budget policy.

From a Hungarian stance, it is a major step forward that cohesion funds are supposed to concentrate on the poorest countries of the EU.

She criticised the idea that a country should be limited to funds equalling 2.5 percent of its GDP, which would mean Hungary losing a great deal of its financial resources.

The Minister of State emphasised the importance of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and that Hungary wants to retain it.

According to Mrs. Győri, negotiations are going very slowly, there have been sharp debates concerning budget structure, but it has been agreed that the timetable should be kept to, in order to maintain predictability and for the necessary legislation to be adopted in time at European Union and national levels. The Minister of State thinks the parties need to come to an agreement by December this year.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)