The European Union is preparing to approve Hungary’s revised National Recovery Plan, which will pave the way for the country to receive 10 billion euros from the recovery fund. This decision will unblock post-pandemic funds that have been frozen for an extended period due to concerns about corruption.
EU finance ministers are expected to endorse Hungary’s revised National Recovery Plan on Friday during the ECOFIN meeting, allowing Budapest to access 10 billion euros in post-pandemic recovery funds after meeting all remaining conditions. For years, a significant portion of the Recovery Fund and Cohesion Fund allocated to Hungary has been withheld by Brussels due to concerns about systemic corruption risks.
Political agreements and conditions
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar, who secured a convincing victory in the April elections, campaigned on a promise to unblock frozen EU funds. Since then, he has reached a political agreement with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to advance this process. An EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed optimism about the Council’s approval, noting that the process has progressed without complications thus far. Approval requires unanimous support from all 27 member states. Hungary must also meet all related key milestones (super milestones) by the end of August to receive the funds.
Updated plan and expectations
Hungary’s Finance Minister Andras Karman stated in a social media post before his trip to Brussels that the upcoming meeting would be crucial, as “this is the last legal step before our country can access several thousand billion forints of EU funds”. Following the April parliamentary elections, Hungary’s new government revised the recovery plan previously submitted by the Orban administration. The updated document includes projects related to suburban railways, energy infrastructure development, and housing. The European Commission provided a positive recommendation on the plan ahead of the Council vote.
Source: Euronews
