There's no guarantee of success, but there is a good chance that the European Council will adopt the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2014-2020 at its session on February 7-8 – State Secretary for EU Affairs Enikő Győri told reporters on Tuesday.

The State Secretary spoke about the most important objectives for Hungary at a press briefing with journalists held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These included that the re-structuring of the Cohesion Fund should not be disadvantageous for member states that are more dependent on EU funds, that Hungarian agriculture and rural development should continue to receive the current level of financial support, and that funds should not be channelled away from poorer countries to support more affluent ones.

„The EU's competitiveness would decrease if differences between member states grew extreme”, Enikő Győri added. She also noted that the total budget of the next MFF is expected to be lower than that of the current financial framework. 

State Secretary Enikő Győri pointed out that the allocation of the MFF's financial resources should not violate the fundamental principles of the EU; she stated that it was important not to modify the rules concerning joint financing and VAT accounting. Enikő Győri stressed that the 85% rate for joint financing should remain so as not to put a greater burden on the national budgets of member states.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)