HUNGARY HOLDS THE PRESIDENCY OF THE EU STRATEGY FOR THE DANUBE REGION

In the frame of the 5th Annual Forum of the EUSDR in Bratislava on 5th November 2016, Hungary took over the Presidency of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region from Slovakia. In his speech Mr István Joó, Ministerial Commissioner responsible for the strategy, acknowledged the work of the Slovakian colleagues and introduced the priorities of the upcoming Hungarian Presidency. He also outlined the main topics of the 6th Annual Forum to be organized in Budapest on 18-19 October 2017.

Mr Joó stated that the time has come to change our traditional theoretical approach towards the implementation of the Strategy to a more result-oriented, performance based approach. As such the Hungarian Presidency will discuss the infrastructural development (energy and transportation) needs of the region through the lens of connectivity.

The Ministerial Commissioner indicated that the Annual Forum of the Hungarian Presidency will have two main approaches: on one hand it will provide a snapshot of the energy and transportation development needs of the Region pre 2020, and on the other hand it will provide the region with a post 2020 vision, both in terms of energy and transportation, and also in terms of finding the strategic synergies between the two.