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Wide-ranging reforms are expected, as the European Commission may make new demands on the Hungarian government in exchange for EU funds, Bloomberg and Politico reported.
The European Commission may set new conditions on Hungary’s payment of EU funds, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The European Commission is expected to put the rule of law procedure against Hungary on the agenda on 22 November. According to Telex‘s news portal’s evaluation, that will decide whether Hungary will be able to meet the end-of-year deadline to access funds from operational programs and the EU’s recovery fund.
The approval would follow a series of proposals made by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to fulfill some long-standing EU demands on the rule of law after the commission threatened to freeze 7.5 billion euros of EU funds for Budapest, Bloomberg reminded. According to the news portal, the Commission is working on an assessment of Hungary’s progress on 17 pieces of legislation that the Orbán government has promised to deliver to reduce graft. “Further measures to ensure the implementation of these commitments and new proposals to strengthen the independence of the judiciary are expected to become milestones in Hungary’s recovery plan”, EU officials said according to the article.
“EU officials are looking at options to conclude the approval process in case the Commission’s blessing comes after 22 November, but the procedure should be finalized around 19 December”, a senior EU official told Bloomberg.
According to the news portal, “it is still unclear whether Hungary would secure the recovery funds in time and how Orbán would react in case he fails to secure the money. Hungary must win the EU’s endorsement of its Covid-recovery plan by the end of the year to avoid losing 70 percent of the 5.8 billion euros in grants earmarked for the nation”.
Bloomberg wrote that “EU officials and diplomats warned that Orbán could torpedo the second half of the EU mandate as some key dossiers, including setting up new sources of EU revenues, require the unanimity of the bloc.” Politico thinks that “unblocking the funds could convince Budapest to drop its veto on key decisions, including an international minimum tax deal and an 18 billion euros Ukrainian aid package,” but statements by the Hungarian government suggest that they would not support these proposals under any circumstances.
Tibor Navracsics, Hungary’s Minister for Regional Development told 24.hu last week that Hungary’s modified recovery plan can be finalized in one or two weeks if there is also political will on the Commission’s part.
According to Politico‘s sources, Hungary has proposed extensive judicial reforms in a bid to unblock grants from the EU’s post-pandemic recovery fund. The Commission is likely to make a decision on the matter before the end of the month, the news portal wrote on Tuesday, citing EU officials. “Even a conditional approval to give Hungary the money would likely spark a backlash from the European Parliament, countries like the Netherlands that want the EU to crack down harder on rule-of-law threats, and civil society groups that argue Budapest’s promises can’t be taken at face value,” it noted.
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