Hungary on track to unlock €10bn in EU funds before August reform deadline

Hungary is on track to fulfil all criteria needed to unlock €10 billion in EU recovery funds by the end-of-August deadline, Euronews understands from conversations with Commission and Budapest officials this week.

Meeting all milestones would clear the way for Hungary to access billions in EU cash, delivering a political win for the new government.

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who won a landslide victory in April's election, ending Viktor Orbán's 16-year rule, campaigned on a promise to unlock Hungary's suspended EU funds.

In May, Magyar and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to release €16.4 billion in EU funds previously frozen over rule-of-law and corruption concerns under Orbán's government.

Of that, €10 billion is due from the EU's post-pandemic Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), which expires later this year. A further €6.4 billion is earmarked for Hungary from the Cohesion Funds, which have no immediate deadline.

“The process is going well; we have every chance that Hungary can fulfil all criteria on time and withdraw all recovery money by autumn,” a Commission source told Euronews.

A spokesman for the Hungarian government told Euronews that legislation related to the super milestones is "progressing" well.

“We are making good progress in meeting the milestones related to recovery funds: we have already fulfilled two-thirds of our commitments, and the settlement of the remaining cases is in its final stage,” a spokesperson from the Ministry of Transport and Investment, which oversees the EU funds process, said.

The Magyar government is expected to provide more precise details on its remaining commitments after its next cabinet meeting.

“It can already be said that there is no milestone where we do not see fulfilment as realistic. At the same time, our goal remains unchanged: we would like to bring home every euro cent due to Hungary,” the ministry added.

The government did not specify the remaining milestones.

Hungary rushes through reforms to meet deadline

Hungary must deliver on 27 so-called super milestones set by the Commission by the end of August. Of these, 21 concern corruption and transparency, four judicial independence and two audits of how the funds are spent.

Hungary had already met the four judicial reform milestones, but parliament needed to push through a series of complex measures over the summer to meet the remaining requirements.

In June, parliament adopted a sweeping anti-corruption package, including tougher asset-declaration rules for politicians, greater transparency in public tenders and the nationalisation of public-interest asset-management foundations, known as KEKVA, which had been used to transfer state assets, including universities, into private-style control.

In July, lawmakers amended the tax code in line with the RRF milestones and passed related legislation covering the energy sector.

Hungary has also established a new anti-corruption body, the National Asset Recovery and Protection Office, tasked with recovering state assets linked to suspected Orbán-era corruption. Prime Minister Magyar has also launched the process for Hungary to join the European Public Prosecutor's Office.

At the same time, Hungary amended its National Recovery Plan to ensure it can draw on the funds in time. The revised plan includes measures to modernise the country's energy grid, railways and rental housing stock.

If Hungary meets all its milestones by the end of August, the European Commission is expected to assess them in September, followed by a payment request and the eventual disbursement of funds later this year