Hungary secures over €10 billion EU recovery funds amid rule‑of‑law review

EU finance ministers voted unanimously to approve Hungary’s amended Recovery and Resilience Plan, unlocking more than €10 billion (about 3 600 billion forints) from the EU’s Recovery Fund. The package includes €6.5 billion of non‑repayable support and €3.5 billion of favourable loans, with up to an additional €6.4 billion of previously frozen cohesion funding pending further conditions. The funds are earmarked for energy‑grid upgrades, renewable‑energy projects, public‑transport modernization, digitalisation, and a €2 billion capital increase for the Hungarian Development Bank to aid SMEs.

At the same time, the European Commission’s 2024 rule‑of‑law report praised some legislative reforms but highlighted lingering concerns: the independence of the judiciary, the handling of high‑level corruption cases, and the transparency of lower‑court assignments remain insufficient. The Commission reiterated that Hungary must demonstrate concrete results in tackling high‑level corruption and welcomed Budapest’s recent request to join the European Public Prosecutor Office, which was approved in July. These developments together shape Hungary’s access to further EU disbursements.