EC on Erasmus affair: Ban on foundation-run universities must be lifted by September for students to attend courses abroad next semester

In order for foundation-run universities to access funding from the Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe programmes, the Hungarian government must reach an agreement with the European Commission by the beginning of September at the latest, Commission spokesman Balázs Ujvári said at the European Commission's midday press briefing on Wednesday.

"Very intensive negotiations have been ongoing between the European Commission and Hungary on the suspension of Erasmus+ student exchange funding, but they have not yet yielded a result,"

Ujvári said, according to Euronews.

"We have made it clear what the solution would be. We have said what we expect, who can be on the boards of trustees. We asked for a limitation on the length of appointments and we also asked for the introduction of a call-off period and for eligibility criteria for the trustees. The discussion continues. It is clear that Hungary has not yet addressed these concerns and further discussions are needed," he said.

He added that the EU would only lift the measures following the adoption of a law. The legislation provides for one month to study the law, and the Council can only decide to lift the measures against Hungary after this period.

So: the Hungarian government has to adopt legislation, which then has to be approved by the Commission, and only then can the Council decide to lift the restrictions.

All this has to happen by 1 September in order for students to be able to take part in EU-funded courses abroad next semester," Ujvári said.

"It doesn't depend on the Commission and the procedure cannot be suspended from one day to the next," he said. He said the goal remains to reach a principled agreement between Hungary and the Commission by mid-July on the measures to be introduced.

It was last December that EU member states banned new financial commitments from all EU programs to institutions run by public interest trust foundations, which includes Hungarian universities that have undergone a model change in recent years. The ministers, at the European Commission's suggestion, saw the foundations as not operating transparently enough, with political decision-makers sitting on their boards in a conflict of interest, and the Hungarian government had failed to address the Commission's objections, which had been made public months earlier. The ban affects two programs in particular, the Horizon Europe research cooperation and Erasmus+ educational exchanges, in the case of universities that have switched to a foundation background.

As Balázs Ujvári said, contracts for the 2023-2024 period should normally be signed by mid-July this year, but the universities that have undergone a model change aren't able to do so for the time being due to the lack of appropriate legislation. The students and researchers of public universities are safe: they will be able to participate in the programmes even if the Hungarian government fails to reach an agreement with the Commission.

If an agreement between the Hungarian government and the European Commission isn't reached in time, foundation-run universities stand to lose these funds for next year as well.