BRUSSELS, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The Council of the European Union (EU) on Friday approved a new recovery and resilience plan (RRP) for Hungary, paving the way for up to 10 billion euros (11.4 billion U.S. dollars) in EU funding.
The RRP is part of the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), a centerpiece of the bloc's NextGenerationEU recovery instrument, which aims to support member states' green and digital transitions while boosting economic resilience and sustainable growth.
The Council said that the funding included around 6.5 billion euros (7.4 billion dollars) in grants and around 3.5 billion euros (4 billion dollars) in loans. The approval followed Hungary's submission of a revised plan, as the previous plan had become unachievable due to rising costs caused by energy price volatility, geopolitical changes and implementation challenges.
The new plan includes measures to strengthen Hungary's anti-corruption framework, improve transparency in the use of public funds and public procurement, and enhance the participation of stakeholders and social partners in the legislative process.
As with other national recovery plans, payments to Hungary will be made based on performance. The European Commission will release funds only after agreed milestones and targets for reforms and investments have been met.
Meanwhile, the Council also approved targeted amendments to the recovery plans for Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Slovenia, saying the changes would not affect the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency or coherence of their overall plans.
To fully benefit from the RRF established in response to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, EU member states must complete the reforms and investments included in their plans by the end of August 2026.
The EU froze billions of euros in funding for Hungary in 2022 over concerns about rule-of-law issues, including corruption risks and weaknesses in public procurement. The bloc later tied the release of recovery funds to a set of reform milestones. ■