Published on •Updated
The Hungarian government has formally notified the European Commission of the reforms it has passed to address the EU’s rule of law concerns, in a move that could unlock €4.2 billion in cohesion funding and restore access to EU programmes.
“The European Commission has received Hungary’s written notification under the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation. The notification sets out measures to remedy the situation that led to the adoption of protective measures,” the European Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration, Piotr Serafin, wrote on X on Wednesday.
The notification follows an agreement struck in May between Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, which included funding blocked over corruption and rule-of-law concerns.
At the end of 2022, the Council of the EU formally suspended €6.3 billion in cohesion funding to Hungary under the conditionality mechanism, citing shortcomings in the country’s anti-corruption framework, conflicts of interest and systemic irregularities in public procurement.
That initial sum has since been reduced due to losses, meaning Budapest could now recover €4.2bn as part of a broader normalisation in relations with Brussels that began after Magyar ousted Viktor Orbán from power in April.
Resolving the issue goes beyond unlocking this amount: the conditionality mechanism also blocked funding to Hungarian public interest trusts and related entities, a legal structure the government uses to take control of public institutions such as universities.
As a result, Hungary-based students and researchers were locked out of EU programmes such as the Erasmus+ exchange scheme and Horizon Europe research grants.
In recent weeks, the Commission and the Hungarian government have worked closely together, meaning Brussels does not expect any surprises when assessing whether the reforms passed sufficiently address its concerns, Euronews understands.
Hungary remains eligible for €10bn under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the EU’s post-pandemic stimulus instrument, with a payment request expected later this month.
Just over €2bn in cohesion funding remains blocked due to concerns about the asylum system, child protection law and academic freedom.
The Commission now has one month to complete its assessment, after which it will refer the matter to the Council with a draft decision — only member states can terminate the conditionality mechanism.
“We will now carefully examine the notification,” Serafin added.