On 23 September 2026, the European Commission proposed to the Council of the European Union (EU) to lift the protective measures imposed on Hungary in 2022 under the EU's Conditionality Regulation, paving the way for the 21 Hungarian higher education institutions managed by public interest trusts to regain full access to the Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe programmes. As reported in previous editions of the newsletter (see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, January 2023), these institutions had been barred, since December 2022, from entering into new legal commitments under both programmes, after the EU executive found that Hungary had not sufficiently addressed rule-of-law concerns relating to public procurement, corruption risks and conflicts of interest. 

The Commission's proposal follows its assessment of the remedies notified by Hungary on 9 September this year, which concluded that the country had adequately addressed the previously identified shortcomings, including reforms to its anti-corruption framework, conflict-of-interest prevention and the effectiveness of prosecutorial action. If approved by the Council, the decision would also unlock EUR 4.2 billion in previously suspended cohesion policy commitments, the amount being part of a wider EUR 16.4 billion package of frozen EU funding for Hungary. The latter includes EUR 10 billion from the NextGenerationEU recovery fund and EUR 2.2 billion tied to the completion of academic freedom milestones.  

The political momentum behind these developments and the related legislative changes were initiated after Hungary's April 2026 parliamentary elections, which brought Prime Minister Péter Magyar's government to power on a platform that included restoring the country's access to frozen EU funds. The recent announcement is in line with a first positive statement from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on 29 May 2026, following an official meeting with Mr Magyar in Brussels, signalling EU’s willingness to unlock the funds, but subject to pending necessary reforms. The new government prioritised, in the short period since, addressing several of the issues at the heart of the legal dispute, including tightening anti-corruption safeguards, strengthening oversight of public spending, and initiating Hungary's accession to the European Public Prosecutor's Office. 

The Council of the EU must still approve the Commission's proposal before the cohesion funds contingent is unlocked and access to Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe is formally restored for the affected institutions. The former has one month to react to the Commission’s proposal.