EC: Hungary may receive around €13.5B from EU subject to certain conditions

Hungary may receive approximately 13.5 billion euros in EU funds, including about 3.5 billion euros from cohesion funds and around 10 billion euros under the post-pandemic economic recovery plan, if the necessary conditions are met, European Commission spokesperson Maciej Berestecki said at a briefing in Brussels, Report informs.

He noted that the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funds for Hungary are regulated by a separate procedure. The total amount of funds under the approved Hungarian plan is about 10 billion euros. Hungary must submit a payment request by the end of September, after which the European Commission will evaluate it and determine how much funding can be unlocked.

Regarding the 3.5 billion euros from EU cohesion funds, they remain blocked for Hungary despite the Commission's proposal today to lift some financial restrictions. Berestecki explained that these funds are blocked not under the rule of law mechanism, but in accordance with another EU legislative act - the Common Provisions Regulation (CPR).

He clarified that out of this amount, about 2.7 billion euros remain blocked due to Hungary's failure to meet horizontal conditions related to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. This concerns, in particular, academic freedom, protection of the LGBTIQ community, including the Hungarian child protection law, as well as asylum rights.

Another 800 million euros are blocked due to non-compliance with conditions related to social inclusion, poverty reduction strategies, and Roma integration, Berestecki added.

Earlier, on September 23, the European Commission proposed that the Council of the EU lift the protective measures against Hungary adopted under the conditionality mechanism. If approved by the Council, this will unblock 4.2 billion euros in cohesion policy funds and restore full access for Hungarian students and researchers to the Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe programs.

"This is an important step... and a positive signal," European Commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari said at the briefing.

According to him, the Council of the EU must now make a decision on the final lifting of the measures within one month. Until then, the current restrictions remain in place. Ujvari also specified that the restrictions regarding Erasmus+ affect 21 Hungarian universities.