Press Release, 6 November 2003

Budapest. Under the motto "Joining together for technical safety and technical self-regulation", five Hungarian organisations became members of DVGW - German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water - on 6 November 2003. The new members are the association of gas distributors, the Hungarian mining authority, the technical safety board, the plumbing and heating installation association and Pécs gas association. DVGW membership unites the forces of all partners responsible for gas supply in Hungary.

For the Hungarian organisations, membership was motivated by several interests:

• to strengthen contacts at European level,
• to broaden the use of leading international technical findings and
• to support the further development of technical regulation.

DVGW has a particular interest in cooperating with present and future EU Member States (Hungary is one of the ten new Member States joining the European Union on 1 May 2004). The common goal strengthens future technical self-regulation in a Europe without borders. This goal is no bureaucratic over-regulation for the gas industry.

A precondition for membership of the Hungarian partners is the adjustment of the legal and technical framework for gas supply and utilisation. This presents an enormous challenge to the gas industries of the new EU countries. However, both existing and new DVGW members are facing new responsibilities as regards implementation of the European directives and standards associated with the liberalisation of gas markets.

The technical self-regulation model advocated by DVGW has proved its worth in these times of change: authorities receive assistance in the performance of their duties and support as regards technical content. For businesses, technical self-regulation not only involves a much greater degree of self-responsibility, but also brings active participation and the permanent continued development of the industry's own technical rules. During the ceremony admitting the new DVGW members held in Budapest on 6 November, Senator E.h. Helmut Haumann, DVGW President, underlined that "DVGW is committing its entire know-how to assisting its partner organisations in Hungary. The new members of DVGW can now benefit from all services - regulation, training, certification."

IDVGW activities focus on the technical safety of gas supply. Technical safety represents a leading edge for competition in the gas industry, both on the national and the international stage. In terms of economics, too, it is worthwhile ensuring that important future investment in technology is not neglected. "In the final analysis, that is the only way to achieve the greatest efficiency, the highest degree of safety and a successful reputation for natural gas", Haumann emphasised.