Brussels, 06/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - Almost a third of the budget adopted on Friday 3 July by the European Commission for cross-border co-operation between Austria and Hungary (INTERREG V) will be focused on environmental protection and the green economy.
Out of the €78 million programmed and endorsed by the Commission as part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), more than 30% will go to the environment and promoting energy efficiency (more than €24 million). Action will firstly focus on the Natura 2000 network, whose aim is to maintain bio-diversity in certain areas of natural interest, improving the quality of a cross border water supplies and enhancing green cross-border tourism.
The programme will also include a slightly smaller but comparable amount for increasing cross-border connections as part of the Trans-European Network TEN-T (see EUROPE 11346). Corina Cretu, the European commissioner for regional policy, explained that this “is a symbolic border in Europe” because the fall of the Soviet bloc began with the opening up of the border between Hungary and Austria in 1989.
A third section will include almost €19 million for stepping up institutional cooperation between the cross-border regions and another will focus on the competitiveness of SMEs (9%). Finally, €4.7 million will go to technical assistance to help regions manage European funds.
Together with the contributions from member states, programme funding rises to just below €96 million. On 6 July, Hungary's absorption rates for 2007-13 stood at 79.5%, slightly below the European average of 82%. (Pascal Hansens)