Hungary's government is ready to sue the European Commission over the latter’s decision to cut off some Hungarian universities from EU funding. The move is part of a larger EU action package aimed at forcing Hungary to remedy measures related to judiciary independence, academic freedoms, LGBT rights and the asylum system.
The EU announced this week that Hungarian universities that operate as public trust foundations or are maintained by such foundations would not receive fresh grants from the EU-funded Erasmus+ exchange and Horizon Europe research and innovation programs. The ban affects 21 Hungarian universities – including prestigious institutions such as Corvinus University, University of Veterinary Medicine, or Semmelweis University, and all the major universities outside the capital that received significant funds from these programs, and for whom foreign students are very important.
The announcement comes as the EU froze in December more than EUR 22 billion of cohesion funds earmarked for Hungary until its government met conditions set by the bloc.
Unacceptable decision
A government member branded the Commission’s decision as unacceptable, saying the Cabinet had met EU requests for change. “What is happening with regards to Erasmus, from the side of the Commission versus Hungary, is unacceptable,” Gergely Gulyás, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff said. He added that Hungary was prepared to take the case to the European Court of Justice if a compromise wasn’t reached and that the government would provide financing for the program if EU funds do not arrive.
The Commission said it had suspended the funding because Hungary had not changed its practice of nominating politicians close to the government on to boards of 21 tertiary colleges. Under a reform of the Hungarian higher education system started in 2019, control of several major universities was transferred to publicly funded foundations often led by serving politicians from the ruling conservative Fidesz party. According to the EU, this setup does not guarantee academic freedom from political interference.
Gulyas insisted that Hungary had done everything requested of it by the Commission to prevent conflicts of interest in the leadership of higher education institutions.
Meanwhile, the EU said that “Under pressure from Brussels, the Hungarian parliament amended the relevant laws last autumn, but despite the EU’s warning, it did not change the rule allowing senior political officials to sit on the foundations’ governing bodies.”
If the Commission requests that senior Hungarian politicians not be permitted to serve on universities' boards of trustees, Hungary is willing to further modify its rules but there was no such request, Gulyás said.
“We would like to find a fast solution,” Gulyás noted, adding that Tibor Navracsics, the minister in charge of EU funds, would hold talks with the Commission next week. Previously Navracsics said that the EU’s decision to suspend the Erasmus funding was discriminatory as students from non-foundation universities can participate in Erasmus programs, while those from foundation universities cannot.
Funding withheld
Hungary had until 19 November to put in place a range of reforms to address democratic backsliding concerns after the Commission triggered its new rule of law conditionality mechanism in late April. The reforms were aimed at strengthening judiciary independence, fighting corruption and cracking down on conflicts of interest. The Commission said in late November that Hungary had "failed to adequately implement central aspects of the necessary 17 remedial measures." As a result, the EU blocked the disbursement of cohesion funds and post-COVID recovery money until Budapest implements 27 so-called "super-milestones" that include the 17 initial reforms.


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