Hungary's response to breaches of the principles of the rule of law not sufficient (EU Commission)

The European Commission reports that recent legislative changes proposed by Hungary are not sufficient to address risks of conflicts of interest in the management of Hungarian university foundations, on 16/12/2024. This impacts Hungary's access to certain EU funds, like Erasmus + and Horizon Europe.

The Council, on a proposal by the Commission, adopted in December 2022 an implementing decision, setting measures to protect the Union budget from breaches of the principles of the rule of law in Hungary.

These breaches related to public procurement, prosecutorial action, conflict of interest, the fight against corruption and public interest trusts. Notably, they concern the transformation, since 2019, of public universities into publicly funded private universities. The members of the boards are appointed by the government, which is where the EU sees a problem, worrying about potential ‘conflicts of interest’ and the ‘lack of transparency regarding the management of funds by these foundations’.

The measures taken in 2022 were:
• a suspension of 55% of budgetary commitments for three…