Agreement “Nowhere in Sight” on Erasmus Funding

Hungary Today 2024.01.09.

The government is “nowhere in sight” of reaching an agreement with the European Commission on further funding for Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe, Regional Development Minister Tibor Navracsics told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) in an interview.

Unfortunately, negotiations stalled in late autumn, reports Világgazdaság. “We are still waiting for the European Commission’s response to our latest position, which we have sent in writing,” the Minister stressed, adding that

his interlocutors lacked the courage to take further steps to solve the problem because of political blackmail from the European Parliament.

Minister Tibor Navracsics. Photo via Facebook/Navracsics Tibor

The Erasmus case was triggered at the beginning of last year when it emerged that Hungarian higher education institutions operating as public interest trusts or maintained by public interest trusts, were not eligible for funding from the EU-funded Erasmus+ cooperation and educational exchange program and the Horizon Europe research and innovation framework program. Students who attend higher education institutions that are maintained and run by a public foundation are therefore excluded from the Erasmus opportunity.

Shortly afterwards, a number of people in or linked to government positions resigned from their trusteeships, but the matter has not been resolved. The latest development was that after the deadline for concluding new Erasmus contracts expired on November 23 and the government had not heard back from the Commission on its earlier proposals to resolve the problem, the cabinet asked for an extension of the deadline – and no solution appears to have been found.

Fact

In 2021, the government adopted a proposal to change the model of higher education institutions. This meant that the majority of universities were removed from the scope of direct state-run institutions, and the rights of founders and maintainers were transferred to trusts established specifically for this purpose. The government’s aim was to ensure the country’s competitiveness and efficiency of its universities, while expanding “academic freedom.”

Erasmus Days Has Special Significance in Hungary This Year

The Erasmus programs will continue until June 30, 2024, Veronika Varga-Bajusz stressed.Continue reading

The Polish media also asked Navracsics about the law on the protection of sovereignty, in addition to the Erasmus issue. The minister noted that there are laws in other countries generally aiming to limit and ensure transparency of external interference in election campaigns or in the internal politics of the country.

The new legislation has been criticized by the U.S. State Department, among others, as a “draconian” tool that could be used to punish political opponents. They argued that “the regulation is not consistent with shared values of democracy, individual freedoms, and the rule of law.”

The minister does not expect the measure to come under greater criticism in the future.

In mid-December, it emerged that Brussels was willing to unblock EUR 10.2 billion of Hungarian EU aid: around EUR 30 billion in total for Hungary in cohesion funds had been frozen, almost a third of which has been released by the commission. However, EUR 21 billion is still frozen. Tibor Navracsics hopes that the remaining funds, to which he believes Hungary is entitled, will be available soon.

Slovenian MEP Thinks Hungarian Students Were Unjustly Excluded from Erasmus+

While Hungarian citizens were excluded from the academic program, illegal migrants have benefited from it.Continue reading

Via Világgazdaság; Featured image via Facebook/Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem