Will Hungary kick the new year off with a tremendous amount of EU funds?

The EU’s internal policy has been going through some major changes with the past few elections in the member states. Next year’s EP election might bring some surprises as well. Besides all that, Hungary might get some of the EU funds that have been frozen for a long time now. Is everything up to the Hungarian PM and how swiftly he can act?

REPowerEU funds

Earlier this week, we reported HERE that Hungary could secure cheap energy soon. Válasz Online also wrote about the current situation, based on which the member states decided earlier this year that the REPowerEU programme holds great importance. Unlike other part of the RRF, a substantial advance should be drawn down as quickly as possible. This would be a 20% advantage going into energy transition innovation. Thus, 20% of the EUR 4.6 billion REPowerEU budget could be accessed soon. This is a ray of hope for Hungary for starting the new year off with not less than EUR 920 million in EU funds. According to some sources, the country would acquire half of that amount in February, while the other half by the end of the year. However, the Council of Finance Ministers has a four-week window to approve the European Commission’s assessment.

Disputes in the past

It is possible that the advance payment is linked to the Polish elections that were held in October. Naturally, Donald Tusk cannot solve the rule of law violation problems that are preventing Poland from receiving money in such a short period. However, as it seems, the EU institutions would be content with just a signal from the Polish politician. A sign that he is willing to put in the effort. Thus, it was suggested that Poland could receive the REPowerEU advance, even while the rule of law disputes are still pending.

This fills Hungary with hope too since the country is in a similar position. If Poland receives the money, it is highly probable that Hungary will receive the funds too. In addition, Hungary has already taken important steps to resolve the issue of the rule of law violation. Even if the European Commission is not fully satisfied yet, there has been a sign of willingness from Hungary’s side.

The upcoming summit

The upcoming summit that will be held on the 14th of December might also bring an interesting twist to this unfolding story. The Commission asked for extra money from member states for financing the unexpected interest costs on the RRF, for example. Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán has stated clearly before that if Hungary is not getting any money from the RRF, then he refuses to vote to cover the interest expenditure. It is an absurd expectation that the Hungarian government would fund a programme from which it does not benefit.

Supporting Ukraine

Világgazdaság writes that Zoltán Gálik, Associate Professor at Corvinus University of Budapest, talked about other questions that will come up during the summit. One of the most important questions that will be discussed is the issue of the budget envelope to be increased for Ukraine. Hungary is only willing to support this matter under certain conditions. As we have reported HERE, a recent survey has revealed that most Hungarians would not support Ukraine’s EU financing. In addition, the initiations of the negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU will also not be supported by the Hungarian government without certain conditions. The professor added:

While it is not certain that all of these will eventually be on the agenda, they will certainly have a symbolic value allowing Ukraine to start accession negotiations.