Hungary’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2011 cost €70-75m, including preparations that started as early as 2007, Ferenc Robák, government commissioner in charge of operative affairs for the presidency, said at a press conference on Friday.
Robák said the government approved a report on the operative, logistics and communications tasks of the presidency at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
All of the EU member states that have taken the rotating presidency in recent years have spent more than €100m on tasks related to the six-month terms, including preparations, he added.