Informing the Public is an EU Requirement18 January 2010
The National Development Agency fulfils its task designated by the EU when the Agency from time to time reports on developments implemented for the Hungarian population from taxes paid by European citizens.
This is because Brussels expects member states to directly inform the citizens of the countries concerned about the use made of funding granted to develop and build the given member state. The European Union actually provides the vast majority of resources needed to fulfil this communication obligation.
Informing the public in member states about the use made of EU development funding granted from the so-called Cohesion Fund and the Structural Funds is defined as a mandatory task under separate EU regulations. Funding provided by the EU by and large covers these communication costs, i.e., approximately 92% of these. If any member state fails to fully satisfy communication obligations, this may even threaten the financing of other, relevant development projects. By adhering to requirements stipulated by Brussels, the National Development Agency regularly informs the Hungarian population about developments and investments implemented from EU funding. To carry out this task, in each case NDA selects communication partners within the framework of public procurement procedures.
The National Development Agency is expected to launch its next publicity campaign series in February, which, similarly to earlier campaigns, will run for a few weeks. This upcoming phase is the continuation of the publicity campaign launched in October 2009 and called "On Location", and will focus on presenting results achieved over the past three years since the launch of the New Hungary Development Plan in 2007, alongside developments commencing at present and in the near future, as well as the European Union dimensions of these. The series itself will be organised at a local level, i.e., at the actual site of specific developments.
Similarly to earlier practice, the upcoming publicity campaign will also be politically neutral, i.e., the series will focus on results achieved to date. Similarly to past campaigns, the organisation commissioning advertisements, i.e., the European Union, will be clearly displayed on advertising platforms, which is why this publicity material cannot be mixed up and confused with other types of economic, social or political promotion campaigns.