EU Releases Hungary Funds Before Reforms Are Done

The EU has released €4.2 billion of frozen Hungary funds, all of it cohesion money, and ended the budget penalty it imposed in December 2022. For Hungarian students, researchers and everyone who pays into the EU budget, the catch is in the paperwork: the Council’s own decision text sets deadlines for several reforms that fall after the money starts to flow.

The penalty ended on 13 October

The Council ended the measures on 13 October, after the Commission concluded that the conditions for them were no longer fulfilled. The 2022 decision had suspended 55% of budgetary commitments under three cohesion programmes. The original freeze was €6.3 billion; the money now released is €4.2 billion.

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Hungarian universities get access to Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe again. Since late 2022, more than 30 Hungarian institutions, including 21 universities, had been shut out of both programmes. Von der Leyen wrote on social media: “A new chapter starts today. For Hungary and for Europe.”

The foundations run universities until 2027

The penalty targeted the public interest trusts, the foundations that took over Hungarian universities and other public institutions under the Orbán government. Trusts outside higher education were de-registered on 31 August 2026. The Council text says the breaches are “no longer present” for those trusts, because their assets went back to the State.

Trusts that run universities are in a different position. The amended law does not end them immediately, and termination is due by 1 August 2027 at the latest. Until then, conflict-of-interest risks have to be managed.

An anti-corruption strategy seven and a half months late

Hungary adopted its national anti-corruption strategy for 2024 and 2025, with its action plan, seven and a half months late. The Council text concludes that “not all commitments were fulfilled”, and that this remedial measure cannot be considered entirely fulfilled.

The same document records a fix that is still a plan: Hungary intends to adopt a new strategy and action plan by 15 November 2026. On other points the Council found the measures met. The Integrity Authority can now suspend public procurement procedures and seek judicial review, asset declarations have a wider scope, are filed electronically and carry sanctions, and a register of excluded companies exists.

Most Hungary funds are still waiting

The release covers the cohesion money only. Hungary still waits for €10 billion from the EU recovery fund, which the Commission is assessing, and €2.2 billion tied to academic freedom. Its September report adds amounts frozen over the child protection law, asylum restrictions and social inclusion.

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The separate rule-of-law procedure under Article 7, opened in 2018, is still open. Fidesz, the former governing party, calls the outcome a pact between Brussels and Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s Tisza party.

The deadlines are in the text

Von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa are reported to travel to Budapest on 23 October for the anniversary of the 1956 revolution, her first visit since 2024. The thaw has a date in the diary.

So do the reforms the Council relied on. The money is released. The deadlines in the Council’s own text are 15 November 2026 and 1 August 2027.