Hungary’s Second Major Project Gets Nod of Approval from Brussels23 March 2009
The Commission approved Hungary’s second major project, the development of the tramway network in Miskolc, thanks to its degree of elaboration and expedient measures taken by the Government.
The development of the tramway network will cost 38 billion HUF, of which 34 billion HUF is covered by EU funding. According to plans, the investment will be completed by the end of 2011.
In addition, another 20 major projects have been approved by the Government and 17 of these are currently awaiting approval in Brussels.
The way in which the European Commission approved the Miskolc tramway project within a short space of time demonstrates the explicit success of Hungarian development policy. This is Hungary’s second major development to be approved by the European Union in the new budgetary cycle. This investment is also of key importance because of the way major investments elaborated at a similarly high standard to the ones to be implemented in Debrecen or Miskolc represent responses to the challenges the building industry and labour market faces in the wake of the crisis.
The aim of the Miskolc project is to improve the standard of public transport services and make community transport popular; however, reducing environmental burdens is just as relevant an objective. The development will make the day-to-day life of at least 120,000 residents of Miskolc and its agglomeration much easier.
The altogether 19-kilometre-long renewed track network and the 2.8-kilometre-long new tram line will connect the city centre to the densely populated housing estate residential zone. The outdated 40-year-old trams running at present will be replaced by 31 state-of-the-art low-floor trams and 45 stops adjusted to meet the requirements of these new trams will also be constructed. This development implies the complex transformation of the east-west transport axis of the city.
The project is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2011. The total cost of the project amounts to nearly 38 billion HUF, of which nearly 34 billion HUF is covered by EU funding.
Hungary named over 40 major projects; 22 of these have already been approved by the Government. We have already submitted 19 of these to decision-makers in Brussels; therefore, alongside the 2 tramway projects, another 17 projects are currently awaiting approval in Brussels. All of these projects are either transport developments or environmental protection investments and require approval by Brussels due to their high value. (The vast majority of major projects are large scale investments exceeding 13 billion HUF in value; whilst the ceiling limit for environmental protection investments is 6.5 billion HUF. Consequently, beyond approval by the Government of the given member state, these major projects must also be given the green light in Brussels.)
Hungarian major projects include, among others, major transport developments, such as the construction of Metro Line 4, the development of the tramway network in Szeged and Miskolc, the construction of Motorway M7 and Highway M43, as well as the development of the Kelenföld–Székesfehérvár train line. However, major environmental protection developments, such as the re-cultivation of waste dumps sites in the central Danube region, the sewerage network and waste water programme in Békéscsaba and Nyíregyháza, or the waste water programme in Makó and its surrounding region are all awaiting approval in Brussels.