The European Commission should lift the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) against Hungary in the summer since the country is keeping the deficit under the 3% European Union threshold, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó said on commercial news channel HirTV late Monday.

Both Hungary, which has been under the excessive deficit procedure since it joined the EU in 2004, and the latest European Commission report forecast a budget deficit under 3% of GDP for both 2012 and 2013.

"We have fulfilled all the conditions laid down in the regulations," the State Secretary said. "We hope the [European Commission] will not take a decision using a double standard or other points of view," he added.

Parliament recently approved the 2013 central budget bill determining the deficit at 2.7%, with HUF 400 billion set aside as a precaution.

Talking about last week’s European Council meeting, where the member states discussed the banking union, State Secretary Szijjártó said that finding a solution is also in Hungary’s interest as two-thirds of its exports go to EU countries, mostly to Eurozone members.

(Prime Minister's Office)