Minister for National Development Tamás Fellegi opened the seventh international conference on Competitiveness Operational Programmes organised by the National Development Agency, the Hungarian Economic Development Centre and the European Commission on 27 October 2011 in Budapest. In his address he pointed out that conspicuous progress has been made in the compliance of the allocation of EU funds and their speed in the period that has elapsed since the change of government. In the near future in a resolution the government will codify the tasks to be performed in the interest of fully using the available limit and further accelerating the system.
During his overview of the results, the minister explained that channelling development funds into the economy had gathered considerable impetus: payments per week had nearly trebled: from HUF 5.5 billion on average to about HUF 15 billion. The pace of acceleration is well illustrated by the fact that most recently weekly payments increased to HUF 35.1 billion. In the past 12 months the number of contracted projects increased rapidly: in contrast to the previously characteristic 103, now we conclude 174 contracts on average on a weekly basis. In the case of the projects falling within the scope of the New Széchenyi Plan, short decision-making and contracting deadlines are observed in every administrative category.
These achievements were made despite the fact that less resources are available than in the previous period. The ministry must manage the inherited incomprehensible, overcomplicated and unaccommodating regulatory environment and institutional system, and overcome decade-old bureaucratic habits and erroneous socialisation patterns.
In view of the operational experiences of the first year or year and a half, a major organisational transformation has started recently. The focal element in this process is the reinforcement of the Deputy Secretariat in charge of Development Policy Coordination. In agreement with the Europe 2020 Strategy, the ministry will manage economy development, green economy and infocommunication as a single complex.
In the interest of simpler tendering procedures, regular tender invitations are published in a carefully considered and concerted framework. Electronic tendering is allowed in a wide circle: datasheets are shorter and the number of fields is considerably less. Declarations are easier and considerably fewer attachments are required.
The tasks to be performed in order to further accelerate the process will be summed up in a government resolution to be drafted in the near future. In contrast to the ad hoc measures taken by the previous governments, this complex acceleration package will initiate improvement solutions for each payment condition simultaneously. The solutions rely on cooperation between the government and the project managers in order to further reduce lead times and increase invoice volumes. In 2012 in the framework of the New Széchenyi Plan the government would make nearly HUF 14,000 billion available for Hungary’s rebuilding, in order to develop the economy and reinforce the society, Mr Fellegi added.
He stressed that during planning the next financial period of the European Union, Hungary must stand up for the maintenance of a powerful cohesion policy. The European Union’s external competitiveness is inseparable from its internal cohesion. As the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have shared interests and similar experiences, everything is in place for efficient and successful collaboration in this policy. During the Competitiveness Operational Programmes conference organised under the auspices of the Polish presidency, the Bulgarian, Czech, Croatian, German, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Serbian and Slovakian fellow ministers and the contributing organisations presented their tried and tested solutions and reconciled their concepts for the next budgetary period.
(Ministry of National Development , Department of Communication)
