Unexpected turn: Hungary may not get the money from the European Commission

Hungary has received the first tranche of EU funding, but the European Commission can block the funds again at any time.

The Hungarian government has met the conditions

The two calendar years of the 2021-2027 EU development cycle have already seen a series of debates in Brussels. Last week, the Hungarian government successfully negotiated with the European Commission, and it was concluded that the independence of the Hungarian judiciary has been strengthened with the latest reform package. The Brussels findings suggest that it now meets the horizontal eligibility criteria linked to the EU budget, portfolio.hu reports.

The ECJ has finally approved the Hungarian government’s legislative package, amended with two additions. Both the curia and the CJEU regulations will only enter into force on the 61st day after their publication.

The EC is watching

A European Commission spokesman said that Hungary was being watched, with the Commission paying particular attention to “the criteria necessary to ensure the independence of the judiciary, a key aspect of European values”.

The spokesperson indicated that if they see a backlash, they will stop payments, including if the latest amendments do not enter into force for whatever reason. The same was said by Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders at a briefing in Brussels last week. At the time, the College’s head of area indicated that they were ready to impose new sanctions at any time

In summary, the money is available to Hungary for now, but it can be frozen by the EC at any time. It is also important to note that on paper, all EUR 22 billion of cohesion funding could now be mobilised, but technically only EUR 10.2 billion of that is available: EUR 6.35 billion remains suspended under the conditionality procedure, and a further EUR 2.6 billion is blocked due to other horizontal conditions (educational freedom, sexual minority rights, migration debate).