The EU freezes the fund of 6,300 million euros from Hungary

The member states of the European Union (EU) have decided to suspend 6.3 billion euros of Union funds that will be delivered to Hungary and approve the recovery plan that will allow the country to receive a total of 5.8 billion euros in subsidies against economic consequences of Covid -19 gave.

The European Council announced that the representatives of the Member States have taken decisions on the status of the funds to be provided to Hungary under the mechanism linking the EU budget to the rule of law and the evaluation of the Hungarian bailout plan. .

“The Council has decided to suspend 6.3 billion euros as Hungary only takes limited remedial measures under the rule of law mechanism,” the statement said.

‘There is a problem in the fight against corruption’ EXPLANATION

Noting that the member states made the decision by qualified majority on the protection of the Union budget, it was pointed out that Hungary had problems in areas such as public procurement, investigative procedures and the fight against corruption.

In the statement, it was stated that Hungary has committed to taking a number of corrective measures to address rule of law concerns, and member states are of the opinion that the corrective measures taken by Hungary so far do not reduce risks to the budget. of the union

Recalling that the Cross-Compliance Regulation is a tool intended to protect the Union budget and the Union’s financial interests, the statement states that the violations detected in the area of ​​the rule of law in Hungary and that these violations do not adequately cover the risks for the Union budget.

THE SUSPENSION OF 7.5 BILLION EUROS WAS DEMANDED

On the other hand, the EU Commission demanded the suspension of 7.5 billion euros, which represents 65 percent of the harmonization funds that Hungary can receive under the rule of law mechanism.

With the latest decision, member countries have frozen 55 percent of the funds, which amount to 6.3 billion euros.

In addition, the EU countries announced that they approved a plan that will allow Hungary to receive a grant of 5.8 billion euros from the EU recovery funds established to combat the economic consequences of the Covid-19 outbreak.

In the statement, it was noted that Hungary will be able to benefit from these grants after meeting 27 criteria of institutional reforms to strengthen the rule of law.

EU AND HUNGARY AGREEMENT

The EU has long criticized Hungary for backtracking in key areas such as democracy and the rule of law.

In addition, the EU did not approve Hungary’s bailout program and did not transfer EU funds to the country under the rule of law mechanism.

Hungary, on the other hand, did not approve issues such as the provision of 18 billion euros of financial aid to Ukraine for the next year and the global tax agreement, which required unanimous consent.

In the final stage, Hungary provided financial support to Ukraine and a tax deal in exchange for freezing some of the Union funds until the necessary measures are taken and the recovery program funds are not cut off. (AA)