Students from 21 Hungarian universities are very likely to bid farewell to Erasmus
It is virtually impossible for students from twenty-one universities run by foundations linked to the Hungarian state to benefit from Erasmus scholarships from September, Válasz Online reported from Brussels.
They remind that in order for this not to happen, the Hungarian side has to introduce a new law on the trustees of foundation universities, after which the European Commission would have one month to analyse the law and, if it deems it appropriate, propose to the Council to lift the sanction that currently excludes a significant number of Hungarian students from Erasmus scholarships. The Council will then consider and decide. In order for students to be able to apply for the scholarships for the academic year starting in the autumn, the process described above would have to be completed by 1 September.
The above schedule was outlined by a spokesperson for the European Commission at its usual daily press conference on Wednesday, after Népszava and Euronews correspondents in Brussels asked about the state of play in the negotiations between the Hungarian government and the Commission on the Erasmus scholarships.
While the spokesperson did not say that the timetable was unrealistic, several Brussels sources interviewed by Válasz Online confirmed that the Commission expected the sanctions to remain in place.
The portal also drew attention to the fact that, as things stand at the moment, the Hungarian Parliament, which is on summer recess, will not convene until September, and although it could be convened in principle, the news site said it would be surprising if President László Kövér did so in order to meet the European Commission's demands. They pointed out that if the Hungarian legislature had wanted to, it would have had plenty of time to solve the problem in the past year.
They also added that even if the Parliament were to meet and adopt the law the EU wants at record speed, it would still need the goodwill of the Commission not to use the one month available to it to examine the new legislation, so that there would be time to decide on lifting the sanction in the Council.
So if next week the Parliament were to vote through all the necessary amendments to the law, there might still be a glimmer of optimism. But there is no sign of that happening. So it is most likely that all universities in the countryside, and many in Budapest (such as Corvinus), will be excluded from the next round of Erasmus scholarships and will continue to be denied European research grants,
they conclude.
Cover photo: Getty Images
