The European Commission has proposed lifting EU budget protection measures imposed on Hungary in 2022, a move that would unlock €4.2 billion in cohesion funding and restore full access to Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe if approved by EU member states.
The proposal was sent to the Council of the EU, which represents member states and must decide whether to adopt it, the Commission announced on Wednesday.
If the Council agrees, €4.2 billion in previously suspended cohesion policy commitments would be reinstated, and Hungarian students and researchers would again be able to take part fully in Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe.
Erasmus+ is the EU’s education and exchange programme, while Horizon Europe is its research and innovation funding scheme.
The Commission said it had assessed remedies notified by Hungary on 9 September 2026 and their implementation, concluding that the country had addressed rule of law problems that were judged to affect the EU budget.
What the Commission said has changed
The Commission listed areas it said Hungary had addressed, including public procurement rules, its anti-corruption framework, risks of conflicts of interest, and the effectiveness of prosecutorial action.
It also said Hungary had strengthened the powers of its Integrity Authority and its access to data, introduced a more comprehensive asset declaration system, and expanded the scope for courts to review decisions by investigative and prosecution authorities.
The Commission added that controls over EU funding and transparency in public procurement and public spending had been strengthened.
Hungary’s accession to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office — an EU body that investigates and prosecutes crimes affecting the bloc’s financial interests — alongside new rules on beneficial ownership and public procurement, were also cited as additional steps.
Under the Commission’s proposal, the Council has one month to decide whether to lift the measures adopted in December 2022.
Those 2022 measures included suspending 55% of budgetary commitments for three cohesion policy programmes in the 2021–2027 period and barring the Commission from entering into new commitments with public interest trusts and entities they maintain for certain EU funding programmes, including Erasmus+ and Horizon.
