Six Hungarian universities bring legal action against European Commission's decision on Erasmus case

According to a joint statement issued by six Hungarian universities which have undergone a model-change, the European Commission refuses to take into account their arguments that university autonomy has not been infringed upon, and they have therefore filed a lawsuit against the Commission's decision, MTI reports.

On 16 December, the Commission concluded that the efforts made by the Hungarian government to address the body's concerns were inadequate. After the adoption of the Hungarian legislation, the EU body pointed out that it had seen previous drafts and "we have always said that they were not sufficient". As they said, this is because they did not adequately address the risks of conflict of interest arising from political decision makers being members of the boards of public interest trusts (which maintain these institutions of higher education). The decision also means that the Hungarian universities in question will continue to be denied access to the Erasmus+ and Horizon programmes.

According to a joint statement sent to MTI by Semmelweis University, Óbuda University, the University of Debrecen, the University of Veterinary Medicine, the University of Miskolc and the University of Dunaújváros, the decision is intended to put pressure on the Hungarian government and aims to involve Hungarian universities in this political conflict.

The institutions further point out that they are being unfairly discriminated against, which is contrary to the principles of the European Union. This is why the six Hungarian universities that signed the statement decided to bring an action before the Court of Justice of the European Union.

"We are convinced that the rule of law concerns raised by the European Commission and the Council against the Hungarian government cannot legitimately serve as a pretext for interfering with the integrity of Hungarian universities and for severely penalising researchers and students," they said. According to the six universities, neither the affected universities, nor the researchers and students were given the opportunity to comment on the matter.