On Monday, 2 December, Hungary notified the European Commission that it had amended a law that governs conflicts of interest and transparency issues in universities run by public-interest funds so as to prevent high-ranking politicians from sitting on university boards.
One of the European Commission’s spokespersons stated on Tuesday, 3 December, that the institution now has one month to evaluate the legislation and, if the expected progress has been made, to send the dossier to the Council of the EU. The latter will then decide, in the final analysis, whether to give Hungary back access to Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe funds.
Around twenty Hungarian universities were not allowed to receive these funds in December 2022 due to public figures linked to the government participating on their boards. Thus, €6.3 billion in European funds was frozen under the conditionality mechanism for a series of irregularities in public contracts.
In addition, Hungary still has not paid the €200 million fine imposed by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for failing to comply with a previous judgment from December 2020 regarding the management of migration flows (see EUROPE 13474/13) – thus making the right to asylum virtually impossible in the country. Added to this lump sum is a penalty payment of €1 million per day starting from the publication of the CJEU’s judgment on Thursday, 13 June, and continuing until Hungary complies with EU rules. To date, the sum due – 173 days later – comes to an additional €173 million. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)