US industrial giant General Electric said Wednesday it will axe 2,700 jobs in Hungary over the next two years after a decision to phase out traditional energy-guzzling light bulbs in Europe.

The cuts, which were announced at meetings with employees and trade unions on Wednesday, would begin at the start of next year, GE said.

The group is the biggest US investor in Hungary, where it currently employs 14,000 people.

A new EU regulation phasing out old-style light bulbs by 2012 came into effect in September.

And this would inevitably hit GE's Hungarian operations, said Phil Marshal, regional chief of GE Lighting.

The factory in Nagykanizsa, southwest Hungary, would be hardest hit, with 1,300 jobs to go there.

But six other sites would also be affected, said company spokesman Balazs Szanto, pointing out that the factory in Vac, near Budapest would be shut down entirely in 2011.

GE would also close one of its five GE Energy plants in Hungary.

Last year, GE laid off 500 employees and closed down a lighting factory and cut back output citing fierce global competition.