Commission unlocks Erasmus+ cash for Hungary, Horizon could be next

The European Commission has announced it will unlock €16.4 billion in previously frozen funds for Hungary, including access to Erasmus+, the EU’s education and training programme. But the new Magyar government must tackle the question of government-controlled university trusts before Hungarian researchers can regain access to Horizon Europe funds.

An agreement reached in late May between the European Commission and the Hungarian government recognises progress on reforms to counter corruption and state capture, and to protect fundamental rights. Providing these reforms move forward, the Commission will release €10 billion from the NextGenerationEU recovery fund, €4.2 billion in cohesion funds, and an additional €2.2 billion tied to the completion of academic freedom milestones. 

The €16.4 billion deal does not cover Horizon Europe, a Commission source told Science|Business, as the EU executive expects public interest trusts to be phased out first.

These trusts were created by the Orbán government to run many of Hungary’s academic and scientific institutions. Their board members are strongly linked to the government, with lifelong mandates and significant decision-making powers with little oversight. The EU deemed that this undermined academic freedom and transparency, leading to a ban in 2022 that stopped the institutions from accessing Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ grants. 

Negotiations to end this deadlock had stalled, but in light of “a strong wind of change across Hungary,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on May 29 that Hungarian students would be able to participate in Erasmus+ “as early as the next academic year.”

The timing for unlocking Horizon Europe funding is less clear, although the direction of travel seems positive. Following talks with Hungarian science and technology minister Zoltán Tanács on the margins of May’s Competitiveness Council, research Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva said on social media that she welcomed “our shared commitment to academic freedom, stronger European scientific cooperation and restoring Hungary’s full participation in Horizon Europe.”

Back in the game

After years of isolation, these developments come as a relief to Hungary’s academic community.

“For Hungarian students, researchers and universities, the prospect of fully rejoining the Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe programmes is not only a financial issue, but also a matter of belonging to the European academic network,” said Tamas Ruppert, co-chair of the Hungarian Young Academy. “It is crucial that young researchers, in particular, can participate in European networks again without facing institutional uncertainty.”

István Kenesei, a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, is “highly optimistic” that most of the funds will be released, including for Horizon Europe. “While students will be able to enjoy the benefits of the Erasmus+ programme as soon as possible [. . .] research within the Horizon Europe programme will have to take time to start, since the formation of new consortia and the evaluation of the research projects cannot be executed overnight,” he told Science|Business. “We all feel liberated however.”

Kenesei does not expect Magyar to dismantle all the boards of the public interest trusts at once, as it would hinder ongoing research and financial operations. Rather, he said, “the government will [. . .] probably change the conditions of membership as well as the actual members of the boards that currently govern the universities according to the Commission’s requirements, and change their overall structures by September next year.”

According to Bernadette Kun, the other co-chair of the Hungarian Young Academy, the country must also rebuild confidence and trust among its European partners.

“They should be informed clearly that cooperating with Hungarian institutions is safe and encouraged, just like others all over Europe,” she said. “Furthermore, Hungarian policymakers must recognise that rebuilding international scientific trust will require more than legal changes; it will also require consistent policies, transparent governance and active support for those whose careers have been disrupted.”

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For Ruppert, Hungary’s exclusion from EU research programmes has caused “serious damage” that will take time to repair.

“Many Hungarian researchers, particularly those in the early stages of their careers, had only just begun to establish their international profiles and networks when the suspension cut them off from vital opportunities,” he said. “In several cases, collaborations were lost, coordinators became reluctant to involve Hungarian partners, and young scientists had to repeatedly explain that the issue lay with their institutional affiliation rather than their scientific quality.”

Even missing more modest opportunities, such as the Cost actions that support networking, had generated problems. “Such programmes often represent the first real entry point into European research networks for doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers and early career researchers,” he said.

Political will

Kun is optimistic about the new political direction that her country is taking regarding science. “We sincerely hope that such reforms will continue,” she said. “However, reintegration into Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ should be handled urgently, clearly and fairly. Researchers and students must not miss another application cycle due to uncertainties.”

For Liviu Matei, who was rector of the Central European University when it was forced to move from Budapest to Vienna, the present approach of benchmarks and monitoring is correct. But further legal and administrative reforms are needed in the academic sector as part of efforts to restore the rule of law. 

“There is no need to invent new models,” he told Science|Business from King’s College London, where he heads the School of Education, Communication and Society. “Suitable frameworks exist in the European Research Area and the European Higher Education Area and are well known. Beyond these reforms, which should not be technically difficult to implement if the political will exists, and it seems that it does exist, the new public authorities must also address the deep wounds left by the Orbán regime in higher education, research and society at large.”

In this regard, he suggested the creation of a National Reconciliation Commission to cover academia.