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Hungarian government will cover 2024 Erasmus grants if talks with EU fail — UPDATED
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Hungary’s government will cover students’ 2024 Erasmus grants if it fails to reach an agreement with the European Union on Erasmus funding for universities run by foundations, the head of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday.
At a regular press briefing, Gergely Gulyás called it “unacceptable” that universities run by foundations would become ineligible for funding as part of the EU’s Erasmus programme, under which students from Hungary can study abroad. He said there were numerous examples of universities in western Europe that had active politicians sitting on their boards of trustees.
He said the matter was also “outrageous” because when Hungary reached an agreement with the European Commission, the government had followed the executive body’s rules on conflicts of interest.
Gulyás said Tibor Navracsics, the regional development minister, will consult with the EU on the matter. The government hopes “that this is just a misunderstanding and the matter can be resolved quickly”, he added.
If no agreement is reached, Hungary will cover the costs of next year’s Erasmus grants, Gulyás said.
If the matter is not resolved, Hungary will file a lawsuit at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) over the resolution suspending the programme, he added.
This year’s Erasmus grants have already been approved and are not impacted by any council resolution or commission opinion, Gulyás said, adding that the decision applies to the 2024 grants.
Hungary wants to find a “peaceful solution” to the matter, he said, adding there may be little room for one given that the government had consulted with the EC and fulfilled its requests.
Meanwhile, Gulyás said the number of academic publications by universities that have adopted the foundational model increased by 18 percent over a single year.
Higher education admissions increased by 9 percent in 2021 and a further 7.5 percent in 2022 compared with 2020 despite there not having been more secondary school graduates in 2022 than in 2020, he said.
There are currently around 40,000 international students studying at Hungarian universities and colleges, up by 65 percent since 2013, he said. Hungarian higher education institutions received applications from 11,300 international students between 2020 and 2021 despite the coronavirus pandemic, most of which went to universities run by foundations, Gulyás said.
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