The Hungarian Government decided on the establishment of the South Transdanubian Economic Development Zone. The identification of the areas formed by clustering settlements of similar features will help better target development goals and funds to the region. The development concepts of the counties (forming the region) were reviewed and each of the 656 settlements of the region were put into categories. The categories were formed according to the county concepts; classification of the space followed all of the area classifications mentioned in them: development goals, priorities, strategic categories or sectoral targets. It has been found that 291 settlements have not been targeted by the county concepts at all. Further 177 ones are classified as deprived areas either because of their peripheral situation or their underdevelopment status by law. 62 settlements are mentioned as ones to be targeted with either economic development programmes or classified as growth zones. The latter category consists of 26 settlements, which are either growth, industrial, innovative or logistic centres according to the development concepts. Tourism related developments are targeted and may be outbreak points in 176 settlements. The threat to the development of rural areas due to shrinking medium sized cities must be addressed. Our review and classification of South Transdanubian Region’s settlements adds the value of the multifaceted approach through the application of the county development concepts.

Maintaining the retention capacity of the rural areas is one of the comprehensive aims of rural development, as the 2nd pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy. Fair income opportunities, available services, sustainable environment are key factors to make rural areas at least as attractive as the more urbanized parts of a regions. Younger generations are the most important target group of population retention throughout Europe. According to Eurostat data, only 11% of all farmers are under 40 in the EU member states. Therefore, supporting young farmers and promoting generational change have been measures of keeping the rural population in the countryside. In our paper, we present the development of young farmers’ support in Hungary. Based on empirical data the study analyses the results and successfulness of the program between 2014 and 2020. The data of the examined timeframe is compared with the results of the previous programming period. The upshot of these calculations shows the progressive effects of the changes in the EU programming and policy making. For the empirical analysis secondary data are provided by the Hungarian Ministry of Innovation and Technology which maintains the web-based database of project calls and results regarding the development programmes in Hungary.

Ensuring the same competition conditions for the companies in EU requires tax harmonization between Member States. In this paper, we review some elements of the harmonization efforts. We will discuss the OECD guidelines on direct taxation and the transfer price regulation as a way to regulate corporate tax optimization behaviour. Based on the Effective Average Tax Rate we introduce the differences in the taxation of profits between Member States. The Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base is one of the key elements in the harmonization of cross-border corporate profit taxation, so our study has a special focus on the proposal. The undisputed advantage of the CCCTB would be the simplification of the taxation of transactions between Member States. However, it also raises the question of how it limits the ability of each Member State to attract capital and to what extent can assign the profit tax to the given country in proportion to the operation of a company and with this how to realize that the base of the corporate tax focuses on the place of activity.

Based on the methods used by economic theory, the study analyses the labour demand of companies and pays special attention to people with changed working ability. The European Union emphasizes the development of active employment policy programmes in line with the wide range of benefits linked to additional labour force utilization in our country. Tax liabilities and tax allowances related to additional labour force utilization significantly affect the profitability of companies. For this reason, the study examines the effects of the use of the production factor in certain cases on the profit based on the example of a 25-person company. Despite active employment policy measures, experience shows that the labour demand of companies is less directed towards people with changed working abilities. However, in this situation, besides the estimated lower labour productivity, infrastructural and sociological factors also play an important role.

Agroecology (AE) as a broad collection of good farming management practices, recognizes the impacts of agriculture on ecosystems and society. Even though AE does not have a specific certification method, its basic components can be identified at the farm level too. In the context of the trAEce project, research was conducted in order to investigate the concept of AE at the farm level. Furthermore, the topics that can be taught in the form of vocational training designed for farmers in connection with AE have also been identified. Accordingly, a 6-module training with 7 events was organized with the aim of testing the developed AE vocational training curriculum. The main target group of the training was conventional farmers who are committed to changing their farming methods and are open to agroecological solutions. The participants had opportunities to express their opinion about the training after each module day, and after completing the whole course. The analysis of the feedback questionnaires proved that the practice-oriented vocational training course that promotes well-established good practices combined with basic theoretical knowledge is considered an effective method to increase farmers’ knowledge about AE. The training helps conventional farmers in the transition towards AE contributing to the even more efficient use of EU subsidies.