Opportunities of the civil organisations in the regional development new institutional system

The amendment of the Act XXI of 1996 on Regional Development and Planning came into force on January 1st 2012. This has been resulted the fundamental transformation of the Hungarian regional development institutional system. The changes had caused that among other things, many earlier existed partnership opportunities and forums terminated their operations. However, under these new rules, there is still a way for civil society organizations to be present and express their views on the various development plans, programs and projects. Much will depend on how the NGOs will be able to organise themselves in order to be able to avail themselves of these opportunities. It is also important question that how the government and local government organizations relate to NGOs, in order to be able to help and promote the realization of the partnership principle. In relation to this, it is an important fact that the European Commission's 240/2014/ EU Delegated Regulation have made it compulsory for the member states to ensure the prevalence of the partnership principle in EU-funded development policies. This creates a requirement for governmental organizations and at the same time an opportunity for NGOs. This paper aims to enumerate the previous experiences and institutions of NGO participation in regional development, and based on these experiences, to show what can and should be done within the existing legal and institutional frameworks.