Brussels, 11/04/2016 (Agence Europe) -Under an agreement reached ruing the visit of Regional Policy Commissioner, Corina Cretu, to Hungary on 7 and 8 April, Hungary will return to the European Commission some of the suspending monies from the EU's regional funds for the transport sector for 2007-2013.
In July 2015, the Commission suspended some €573 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund in the wake of irregularities detected in the award of public contracts for road infrastructure in a scandal known as the 'asphalt case.' A source says the funds have not actually been lost and Budapest will be able to reprogramme part of the funding for other projects already under way financed for the 2007-2013 period. Hungary must, however, carry out the reprogramming before the closure of the period in March 2017, explains another source.
On the other hand, agreement has not yet been struck on the suspension of €121 million from the European Regional Development Fund for the Operational Programme on social infrastructure for Hungary, a suspension that was decided upon on 23 March (see EUROPE 11526). A source told this newsletter that this particular case is far too recent.
The Commissioner raised the question of how EU financial instruments are being used. There has been a sharp increase in their use in Hungary, particularly to finance SMEs. More than €2.3 billion will be invested in Hungary from financial instruments for 2014-2020, explained a source. The Commission wants to double the use of financial instruments on the previous period, but some regions are concerned about this approach (see EUROPE 11493).
Another area of discussion was the use of Structural and Investment Funds to deal with high migrant numbers. Here, Hungary still views the Commission's proposal to reprogramme European funds as a deviation from what the funds were initially designed for (see EUROPE 1152). It seems to be sticking to this view. The Commission has taken note of Hungary's position, stating that it is open for talks if the Hungarian government were to change its mind. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)