EGTC-Workshop 2020/1 (Budapest)

The first EGTC workshop of the year took place in Budapest on 8 June 2020.

In view of the epidemiological situation, the workshop simultaneously took place in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and online, unlike other times. Despite the restrictions and the extraordinary circumstances, the workshop successfully provided an opportunity for exchanging professional knowledge and experience. According to the attendees, the workshop was very relevant, not only because of the topics of the professional lectures, but also because of the opportunity to listen to each other and think together.

Planning the EU financial period of 2021-2027 was one of the important topics of the workshop, therefore after the greeting and introduction by Deputy Secretary Péter Kiss-Parciu, representative of the Department for Development Policy and Planning Coordination of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, Marietta Szabó demonstrated the current status of the planning, as well as the rearrangements in EU support.
The Secretary-General of CESCI, Gyula Ocskay talked about how COVID-19 affected the lives of people living in the border region. Besides the significance of the border areas in a crisis and the problems caused by the closed borders, he also mentioned the lessons learnt in this situation, which have to be constructively processed in the near future. Deputy Head of Secretariat of the cooperation programme, Szilveszter Holop summarised the characteristics and background processes of the Slovakian-Hungarian INTERREG programme, including the experiences that are necessary for successful tendering and submitting quality tenders.

Besides constructive development and successful tenders, another key element of the future of the border regions is operational work with trained professionals. It is a shared objective of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the EDUTUS University to train and provide workforce with adequate skills. The result of this cooperation is the further vocational training of cross-border development specialists, the establishment, aim and sample syllabus of which was demonstrated by the rector of the University, dr. Andrea Németné Gál.

The topic of the state aid effecting the mechanism of resource utilization was also on the agenda. Dr. Zoltán Bartucz presented about this diversified system and the highly prioritised rules regarding the EGTCs, including de minimis support, and he also demonstrated the role of the Aid Monitoring Office in the related processes.