National
Development Agency

As demonstrated in this official document issued by Brussels, the ratio of funding awarded in relation to the 7-year framework available reaches 46.3% in the case of Hungary, as opposed to a ratio of 27.1% recorded in the entire EU. In terms of amount of funding, Hungary has committed the second highest ratio of resources from among the 27 member states, which is by far the best result achieved among member states allocated similar amounts of funding. At an EU level, 1 in every 8 EUR was awarded to Hungarian applicants over the 2007-2009 period.

On the grounds of data presented in the document released on 31 March, at a Community level, somewhat more than 93 billion EUR of the 344 billion EUR framework available up to 2013 was awarded to applicants up to the end of 2009, whilst one-eighth of funding committed at an EU level was awarded to Hungarian projects. Hungary ranks 7th among the 27 EU member states as regards the ratio of funding committed; although it is necessary to note that every one of the member states that out-performs Hungary has been allocated substantially less funding than Hungary: for example, Belgium, ranked first, followed by Holland in second place, is only required to ensure the use of one-tenth the amount of funding Hungary has to over the same period. As regards the rate of funding committed, only Poland has awarded a higher amount of EU funding to its applicants than Hungary. However, it is nevertheless a fact that, due to the size of this country, Poland has been allocated nearly 3 times more funding over this 7-year period, as an outcome of which the ratio of funding committed by Poland fails to reach a ratio of 20%.

Hungary is by far the best-performing member state in terms of funding committed from among member states allocated similar amounts of funding. While the Czech Republic has committed 5.6 billion EUR (21.6%), Germany 4.9 billion EUR (19.3%), Italy 10.6 billion EUR (38%) or Portugal 8.1 billion EUR (38%) of development resources made available for these countries, Hungary has made decisions on the approval of EU funding amounting to 11.5 billion EUR, which represents 46.3% of the EU funding made available for the country.

The European Commission not only assessed progress made in the domain of use made of EU resources in terms of amounts, but equally evaluated results achieved according to development areas. For example, in the field of environmental protection, the Commission has identified that arrears are experienced in the entire EU at an investment level; at the same time, Estonia, Spain and Hungary have achieved good results in the implementation of environmental protection programmes. The report also lists Hungary among member states performing better than average in the implementation of programmes aimed at developing cultural and social infrastructures. The Commission mentions Hungary among member states that have achieved major progress in the field of info-communication developments, and especially highlights results achieved by Hungary in the field of urban development and tourism. In addition, the European Commission lists the complex programme launched to develop the 33 most disadvantaged micro-regions in Hungary among the top 40 EU projects implemented over the past three years. 

In line with the report that has just been released, Dirk Ahner, Director General for the European Commission’s Regional Policy Directorate, recently declared the following in connection with Hungary’s performance in a letter: ˝The European Commission is particularly satisfied with the way programme implementation sped up during 2009 and resulted in highly satisfactory absorption figures at the end of 2009. It is a fact that (…) in European comparison, Hungary is currently making good progress as regards the performance of cohesion policy.”

Member state frameworks and commitments

Click on http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/policy/reporting/cs_reports_en.htm to download the European Commission’s report on progress made in the field of cohesion policy over the 2007–2013 period.