The European Commission has closed the infringement proceedings it launched with relation to the Natura 2000 forests in Sajólád, Girincs Great Forest and Csaholc Garbolc. Hungarian forestry management is fully compliant with the European Union's conservation requirements.

Thanks to the measures introduced by the Ministry of Rural Development, the infringement proceedings launched against Hungary between 2008 and 2010 in relation to the typically illegal logging that occured in the country's Natura 2000 forests have come to a close. The Commission's primary complaint was that the monitoring system operated by the Hungarian authorities did not afford sufficient protection to forest habitats of community significance.

As a first step, forestry authorities introduced an extremely strict Natura 2000 impact study system, which was duly accepted and is regarded as successful by the European Commission. Then in 2012, to counterbalance the restrictions caused by the impact studies, the Ministry for Rural Development introduced a system of Natura 2000 compensation funding, financed from the rural development budget. This has become one of the most successful forestry rural development measures introduced so far. Cooperation between the Ministry and forest managers became complete when the fulfilment of EU requirements was assured by the linking of sufficient European Union finding.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)