Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience Plan has received unanimous approval from the EU finance ministers, removing the final obstacle from bringing home thousands of billions of EU funds, Prime Minister Péter Magyar said on Facebook on Friday.
Péter Magyar hails “superhuman effort”
“Many did not believe it was possible, Fidesz obstructed it, but we managed to pull it off through three months of hard work,” he said. The EU funds will finally be allocated where they belong, to the Hungarian people, to the development of Hungary’s transport, energy supply, healthcare, water supply and businesses, the prime minister said. At the end of his post, Magyar thanked everyone who participated in “this superhuman effort“, the Hungarian news agency wrote.
10 billion euros unlocked
“Hats off: The government has unlocked 10 billion euros of EU funds for Hungary. Some of these will have to be spent on transport, environmental and housing developments in the capital,” Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony said on Facebook on Friday.
“We are ready to usher in a new golden age for the city through a new partnership,” the mayor said. The new plan should allow for 10 billion euros to be disbursed to Hungary, made up of around 6.5 billion in grants and 3.5 billion in loans.
ECOFIN clears Hungary’s new RRF plan
European Union finance ministers approved Hungary’s new Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) plan at an ECOFIN meeting in Brussels on Friday. The new plan should allow for EUR 10bn to be disbursed to Hungary, made up of around EUR 6.5bn in grants and EUR 3.5bn in loans, the Council said in a statement.
Measures outlined in the new plan will ensure the protection of the EU’s financial interests in relation to the plan’s implementation, strengthen Hungary’s anti-corruption framework, enhance transparency of public resources and public procurement, and improve the involvement of stakeholders and social partners in the legislative process, it said. The new plan also includes measures to strengthen judicial independence and rule of law in Hungary, it added as per the Hungarian news agency.
The Council noted that payments under the new plan — as with all national plans — would be performance-based, and the European Commission would pay out amounts only when milestones and targets towards completing the reforms and investments were achieved.
Short deadline
Delays in meeting super milestones in Hungary’s previous RRF plan meant that it was no longer achievable due to cost increases stemming from energy price volatility, unexpected shifts in geopolitical circumstances, unforeseen implementation challenges, delays resulting from time constraints or scheduling pressures, as well as other developments, the Council said.
The RRF is the centerpiece of NextGenerationEU, the EU’s temporary instrument to facilitate and accelerate the green and digital transitions in member states, while increasing resilience, cohesion and sustainable growth.
The deadline for paying out RRF monies is the end of 2026.
Vitézy hails approval of Hungary RRF plan by EU finance ministers
The minister of transport and investment has welcomed the European Union finance ministers’ unanimous approval of Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience plan and said “it is now a fact that the new government has brought home recovery funds worth 10 billion euros, unavailable to Hungary earlier.”
Dávid Vitézy said “these are the funds Hungary could have started disbursing in 2021 and will have to be used until the end of August”, adding that the EU had frozen the funds due to rule of law and corruption concerns under the previous government. He also added that many had believed those funds to be lost, but members of the Tisza government had “many rounds of talks” with the European Commission and “succeeded in reaching agreement practically on all points.”
Despite claims by the previous government that “in return for the funds we need to go to war, allow migrants in and restructure the legal system” all Hungary had to do was “to take anti-corruption measures, increase transparency around public funds and make the asset declaration rules for public officials more stringent,” he said. “The Hungarian parliament passed those laws and all barriers were removed from accessing the EU funds,” Vitézy said.
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Railways will benefit the most
Railways will be the “biggest beneficiary” of European Union funding for public transportation, the transportation and investment minister said at an event on Friday to mark Railway Workers’ Day. Vitézy said that close to HUF 2,000bn of EU support would be available for public transportation upgrades. He added that the new government’s plans for modernising railway infrastructure extended beyond a single four-year term.
Vitézy highlighted the contributions of all of state railway company MAV’s staff to achieving goals and noted plans to renovate railway stations and infrastructure, upgrade intercity and suburban fleets, and set up companies to manage transport as well as rolling stock.
MAV CEO Zsolt Hegyi said fleet upgrades and track renovation would improve the safety and reliability of rail travel. He added that know-how, along with good working conditions and fair pay, were also necessary to provide top-tier service. He noted that MAV would celebrate the 180th anniversary of its founding in days. More than 140 graduates of vocational programmes took their oaths of service at the event.
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Amazing. Thank you Tisza and Peter Magyar for the hard work to secure prosperous future for Hungary. There is more and more hope for our youth to have a good life in Hungary instead of leaving for better opportunities.