EU Sued by 6 Hungarian Universities After Freezing Funds

Six Hungarian Universities have decided to file legal complaints against European Union over the freezing of funds for Erasmus Programme.

In December 2022, more than EUR12 billion in EU funds for Hungary was frozen. This included EUR6.3 billion as part of the Rules of Law Mechanism and EUR5.8 in post-Coronavirus Recovery funding.

SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that six universities - including Semmelweis University of Debrecen and the University of Debrecen - decided to file a lawsuit after the EU decided to freeze the funds and to not award new grants to universities. The assets of these universities were transferred to foundations led by board members.

Semmelweis University requested that the European Union Court of Justice order the EU not to apply strict rules to it or to reverse the decision to completely freeze the funds. The University also claimed that EU funding was used independently and excluded any government officials or related people.

The University of Debrecen said that the EU's core values are in conflict with any decision to freeze funding for Hungarian Universities. It also stressed that none of the board members have political roles that could lead to conflicts of interests.

The Hungarian Ministry of Culture and Innovation announced earlier this month that Erasmus+ would continue, despite the EU's decision to reduce funding for Hungarian Universities last year.

In an official statement the Ministry stated that the Commission of the EU's decision on public interest asset management funds does not impact the student exchange programs.

"Hungary has fulfilled all its commitments and therefore refuses to accept the European Commission's discriminative decision to exclude public interest asset management foundations carrying out public duties and the universities they manage from direct EU tenders," the Ministry said.

In addition to the above, Minister of Regional Development of Hungary Tibor Navracsics confirmed just a few days ago that university students from Hungary are now eligible to apply for Erasmus Scholarships for the fall semester.

Navracsics, in addition, reassured students that Hungary will continue to participate in the Erasmus+ program.

He said that a deal could be reached on this issue by the summer of 2019. He also noted that the funding of Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ would continue beyond 2024.

Navracsics, in response to the EU Commission's dispute over conflict-of interest regulations, said that universities would adopt a new model. He also noted that, so far, authorities had not been able to determine which positions were incompatible with board members.

Source: schengenvisainfo.com