EU Funds Decision Faces Scrutiny

The European Commission has proposed lifting budgetary conditionality measures that suspended €4.2 billion in cohesion policy commitments for Hungary, prompting calls from the European Parliament’s Hungary rapporteur for closer scrutiny of the country’s reforms.

Tineke Strik, a lawmaker from the Greens/EFA group and rapporteur for Parliament’s Article 7 procedure on Hungary, said progress should be recognised but argued that EU funds must be released only after reforms have been implemented in practice. She questioned whether risks to the EU budget had been sufficiently addressed while measures including the phasing out of public interest trusts remain ongoing.

The Commission proposal would also restore access to the Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe programmes for students and researchers linked to Hungarian universities maintained by public interest trusts. The Council of the European Union has one month to decide whether to approve the proposal.

Strik said the Council should assess the plan carefully and that Parliament must receive detailed information under the Conditionality Regulation. She added that broader concerns over rule-of-law standards in Hungary remain under review through the Article 7 procedure, which Parliament triggered in 2018.