EC suspends some funding for Hungary (EUR 2.36bn) over “technical dispute”

Budapest (MTI) – The European Commission has suspended 700 billion forints (EUR 2.36bn) in Hungary’s European Union funding after it found fault with the selection process during the 2007-2013 budget cycle, deputy state secretary Nandor Csepreghy said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Hungary’s dispute with the EC on the matter is of a “technical” nature, Csepreghy said, adding that the cabinet is weighing possible solutions.

The correction the EC prescribes for such cases is usually below 10 percent of total funding, which could mean around 20 billion forints, Csepreghy said. This amount may not be used for the original programme but may be used for other development goals, he explained.

No developments can be halted due to the EC decision, he said.

Csepreghy noted that the former Socialist government’s selection process had been used during the period in question.

The ruling Fidesz party said in response that it will ask the government to do its utmost to ensure that no economic development programmes should be halted because of the “technical debate” that has developed with Brussels as a result “of the Socialists’ misappropriate selection process.” The party’s parliamentary group said in a statement that “unlike the Socialists, the now ruling Fidesz government has not, and will not, allow a single penny of EU funding available for Hungary to be lost.”

The opposition parties LMP, Egyutt and Hungarian Liberal Party (MLP) in response demanded that the government should release the EC’s related report to the public without delay.