In April, the European Commission launched against Hungary a procedure never used before, which can lead to the suspension of European funding whose use is threatened by problems of corruption or lack of judicial control in a country.

After months of exchanges with Budapest, the community executive must, at the end of a meeting on Sunday, submit its position to the Council, an institution representing the member states, which will be responsible for the final decision.

European Commissioner Johannes Hahn had suggested in July in an internal document to freeze 70% of the funds from several cohesion policy programs to be allocated to Hungary for the period 2021-2027.

But according to European sources, this proportion should be revised downwards because of the "efforts" made by the Hungarian government to respond to the concerns of Brussels.

The European Commission should also propose to the Member States to offer a way out to Hungary, allowing it to escape the suspension of funds if it implements the required reforms in the fight against corruption.

The Member States will have one month to decide - by qualified majority - on the Commission's proposal, but the deadline may be extended by two additional months.

Brussels is concerned about the use of the EU budget by the government of nationalist Viktor Orban, in power since 2010. It points to irregularities and shortcomings in public procurement procedures, the high proportion of single applications for these contracts, the lack of control of conflicts of interest and of legal proceedings in the event of suspicion of fraud.

Recovery plan blocked

Budapest is struggling to try to escape the ax, but also to convince Brussels to unblock its post-Covid recovery plan (5.8 billion euros in subsidies).

Hungary is the only EU country whose plan has still not received the green light from the European Commission, for the same reasons related to respect for the rule of law.

Hungary recently announced that it would quickly set up an "independent authority" to fight corruption, responsible for monitoring the use of EU funds, and improving the transparency of public procurement.

Measures must allow citizens to bring a complaint before the courts if they believe that the prosecution has arbitrarily terminated a corruption investigation.

The transparency of the legislative process must also be reinforced.

Gergely Gulyas, chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orban, announced on Saturday that laws intended to assuage European fears would be voted on next week in the Hungarian parliament.

They "will come into force in November", he promised.

The asset declaration system for Hungarian parliamentarians was also modified in July to bring it into line with the rules of the European Parliament.

Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga has toured several European capitals in recent days to plead the cause of her country, which is facing a difficult economic situation, against a backdrop of galloping inflation and the fall of the forint, the national currency. .

Without an agreement on the Hungarian recovery plan by the end of the year, 70% of the subsidies will be lost.

The European Parliament estimated on Thursday, in a report voted by a large majority, that Hungary was no longer a true democracy but "an electoral autocracy", calling on the Commission to "refrain from approving Hungary's plan that it will not have fully complied with all the recommendations" from Brussels.

© 2022 AFP