Hungarian universities blocked from receiving Horizon Europe funding are set to regain full access to the European Union’s flagship research programme if member states approve a European Commission proposal to end the restrictions.
Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that Hungary had taken “important steps to strengthen the rule of law and protect the union’s financial interests”.
"Today, we are proposing to unlock €4.2 billion (£3.6 billion) and reopen the doors of Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe to Hungarian students and researchers. I am glad that they will once again fully benefit from the opportunities our union creates. This shows that reforms deliver results,” she added.
Hungarian universities that adopted a controversial governance model under the rule of former prime minister Viktor Orbán were suspended from taking part in Horizon Europe in 2022.
Under Orbán, the commission had raised concerns over the government’s move to transfer control of the country’s public universities to state-linked foundations, whose boards were packed with Orbán loyalists. The initial board members were hand-picked by the government and given lifetime positions. By 2022, there were 21 foundation-run universities, according to the European University Association.
Orbán’s rule came to an end in April after Peter Magyar led his Tisza party to a landslide victory in parliamentary elections. Since then, the country has taken steps to regain access to frozen EU funding and programmes, including announcing plans to phase out the controversial governance models within a year.
Earlier this year, von der Leyen welcomed Magyar to Brussels shortly after his landslide victory in the Hungarian parliamentary elections. She announced that Hungary would rejoin the Erasmus+ student exchange programme “as early as the next academic year” and reached a deal to unlock €16.4 billion in EU recovery and cohesion funds that were previously frozen under Orbán.
The commission said the council had one month to decide on lifting protective measures adopted in 2022.
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