After intensive negotiations, before the final deadline, an agreement was reached with the European Parliament on the European Union's 2025 budget.

All this includes a commitment of 199.4 billion euros and a payment of 155.2 billion euros, Péter Benő Banai, the State Secretary responsible for public finances of the Ministry of Finance, announced in Brussels on Saturday morning.

The state secretary, representing the Hungarian EU presidency, said at the press conference following the budget debate of the Economic and Financial Council (ECOFIN):

through the agreement, solutions were found to very important problems and challenges, so it is possible to ensure the financing of programs that increase the competitiveness of the union.

"Thanks to the agreement, it is also possible to finance the recovery after the devastating floods experienced in Central and Eastern Europe and Spain, while maintaining the principle of budgetary prudence, which means that the EU budget will be flexible next year," he added.

He emphasized: the position of the council was adopted by a unanimous vote, and they received the support of all 27 member states.

I thought it was important to reach a compromise

which offers a solution to the challenges we face, such as damage caused by floods or cyber security, while at the same time not overburdening European taxpayers," he pointed out.

Everything is given for economic growth

He said: the funds are available to finance the programs that are important from the point of view of European competitiveness as a whole and the support of economic growth.

Within this, he mentioned the cohesion subsidies, which serve to finance investments in Hungary and many European countries.

They increased by around three billion euros

he highlighted. Benő Péter Banai said that they also reached an agreement on the financing of loan interest.

He added: the Hungarian presidency stood up for budgetary discipline based on the clear authorization of the member states. "If the EU budget is too large, individual member states and European taxpayers will have to pay more. That is why it is important what, for what purposes and how much resources the European Union will provide in 2025," he emphasized.

As he said, the EU budget for 2025 makes it possible, for example, to provide funding for the programs launched in Hungary. Next year, the European Commission can transfer about HUF 2,700 billion to those programs that have been accepted by the European Parliament, and the specifics of which have been determined by the Hungarian government, he said.

According to Niklas Herbst, they had an intensive discussion about the budget

According to Niklas Herbst, the chairman of the budget control committee of the European Parliament, they had an intensive negotiation on the budget, in which the state secretary "proved to be a tough negotiator", but nevertheless they reached an agreement.

"I think we have reached a very important agreement,

because in these difficult times, in the midst of geopolitical challenges, we have to justify the spending of every single euro.

At the same time, we need well-functioning public administration, which is why we were able to find a balance," he emphasized.

MTI

Featured image: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán holds an international press conference on the program of the Hungarian presidency in the European Parliament building in Strasbourg on October 8, 2024. MTI/Tamás Purger