Danuta Hübner, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Regional Development, has been awarded the Pálfi István Memorial Medal, an annual award created by Tibor Navracsics, Minister of Public Administration and Justice.

The prize is designed to recognise outstanding work in the development of regional policy, contributions to the development of cooperation, and the strengthening of cross-border links.

Ms. Hübner is a defining personality in Poland’s economic and political integration and the region‘s drive to close the gap with the rest of Europe. As a member of the European Commission from 2004 to 2009 she was not only a leader in European regional policy, but also a reformer. She believes that a divided Europe will never be competitive, that cohesion renders it operable and that regional policy forms the basis for this.

The Polish Christian Democratic politician called the award an honour, saying that Hungary has contributed a great deal to the formation of regional policy and, with the changes it has enacted, Hungary will be at the forefront of change in the coming years. She emphasised that it is important for the economy to remain competitive and for cohesion to increase, with richer and poorer countries economies growing in the same way.

In an accompanying address, Bence Rétvári, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs at the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, said that we must clearly recognise that the values of the European Union are promoted by local and regional initiatives – more than ever in times of economic difficulty. The EU’s momentum can only be regained from below at the levels of villages, towns, cities and regions. For this to happen, it is necessary that there is cohesion uniting local and regional government bodies, the civil sphere and players in the world of business, science and technology. As a consequence of the crisis, efforts must be made to use scarce resources as efficiently and effectively as possible, and for this to happen unnecessary administrative burdens must be eliminated, and regulation simplified and made comprehensible and transparent for everybody. All this must be achieved without violating the ‘strict principles of financial management’. Mr. Rétvári, who also conveyed President Áder’s congratulations to Ms. Hübner, said that István Pálfi was an example to all those who strive to strengthen a common Europe.

The first winner of the award two years ago was the Polish politician and MEP, Jan Olbrycht, and last year Michel Delebarre, former Chair of the Commission for Territorial Cohesion of the European Union.

The Fidesz politician István Pálfi died in 2006. From 2004 until his death he was a member of the European Parliament, and worked within the Parliament’s Committee on Budgets.

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)