Brussels Gives the Green Light for Hungary’s First Major Project21 January 2009
Thanks to its degree of preparation and measures introduced by the Government to speed up the procedure, the European Commission approved Hungary’s first major project, namely, the development of the tramway network in Debrecen.
The development of tramway network No. 2 will cost nearly 18 billion HUF and the investment is expected to be completed by the end of 2011 according to plans.
A further 18 major projects have already been approved by the Government, out of which 14 are currently awaiting approval in Brussels.
The way in which the European Commission approved the Debrecen tramway project within a short period of time explicitly demonstrates the success of Hungarian development policy, which project is the first large-scale development to take place in the new budget cycle requiring EU approval. Only a handful of other member states are able to boast similar decisions. This investment is extremely significant also because of how major investments prepared at a similarly high standard to the one to be implemented in Debrecen will represent responses to the challenges the building industry and labour market is facing due to the emerging crisis – announced Mr Gordon Bajnai Minister for National Development and Economy in connection with the decision. Mr Bajnai added that contracts amounting to 1800 billion HUF in value will help Hungarian entrepreneurs and employees over the next one and half years.
Hungary named over 40 major projects, out of which 19 projects have already been approved by the Government. We have already sent 15 of these to decision-makers in Brussels, which means that beyond the Debrecen project, a further 14 projects are currently awaiting approval in Brussels. All of these projects are transport development or environmental protection investments and, due to their value, need to be approved by Brussels. (Just as a reminder: the vast majority of major projects are investments exceeding 13 billion HUF in value, whilst the maximum value of environmental protection projects is 6.5 billion HUF. Therefore, beyond approval by the Government of the given member state, the approval of the European Commission is equally needed in the case of these major projects.)
Hungarian major projects include major transport investments, such as Metro Line 4, the development of the tramway network in Szeged and Miskolc, Motorway M7, the construction of Highway M43 and the development of the Kelenföld-Székesfehérvár train line. But at the same time, major environmental protection developments are currently also awaiting approval in Brussels, such as the re-cultivation of waste dumps in the Central Danubian region, the sewage network and waste programme of Békéscsaba and Nyíregyháza, or the waste water programme of Makó and its surrounding region.
Thanks to the package of measures introduced by the Government to speed up 30 pieces of legislation, major investments - and therefore the implementation of major projects - effectively accelerated in Hungary from the middle of 2008. Only soundly conceptualised, assessed and prepared projects are submitted to Brussels. According to experts, the preparatory phase is twice as long as the actual construction, investment phase. Owing to how the National Assembly and Government endorsed the package of measures aimed at accelerating the procedure, fewer permits need to be obtained, administration is made easier and the construction process itself speeds up.
The aim of the project to be implemented in Debrecen is to improve the service standards of metropolitan public transport, make community transport more popular and reduce environmental loads. This development makes the day-to-day lives of at least 100,000 residents of Debrecen and its agglomeration easier.
A new 7.8-kilometre-long tramway track with 12 stops with handicap access will be built within the framework of this project. 18 new tramway vehicles will also be procured to run along the new line.
Anticipated date of completion of the project: 31 December 2011; total costs of the project: nearly 18 billion HUF, out of which national and EU funding amounts to nearly 16 billion HUF.