Restructured Hungarian universities may lose access to Erasmus+ programme
The European Commission has reportedly already informed its services and the national authorities responsible for managing the funds that higher education institutions run by asset management foundations will not be able to receive funding for applications evaluated after 15 December. There are 21 foundation universities in Hungary, including Corvinus University of Budapest, Semmelweis University, the University of Miskolc, the University of Sopron, the University of Szeged and the University of Pécs, Népszava recalls. Most of them have until now benefited from substantial subsidies from the funds managed directly or indirectly by Brussels. The Corvinus University of Budapest won €3.6 million in funding from Horizon 2020 for 11 projects between 2014 and 2020. And in December 2020, for the first time in its history, it was awarded a €4 million grant as consortium leader, according to the institution's website.
According to the European Commission, in 2020, 22,622 Hungarians participated in Erasmus+ exchanges abroad in higher education, vocational education and training, school education, and adult learning, with EU funding of €40.45 million. Corvinus, which has since changed model, was among the three universities sending the most participants.
The decision to cut off community funding was taken by EU Finance Ministers on 15 December 2022, when they froze almost a third of the 2021-2027 catch-up funding for Hungary because of corruption risks. At the same time, they instructed the EU not to conclude new financial agreements with asset management foundations set up under the 2021 Hungarian law, or with any legal entity that is maintained by such a foundation.
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