EU approves Hungary’s €10 billion recovery plan

EU finance ministers approved Hungary's revised recovery plan on 10 July. The decision opens a legal path to roughly €10 billion in grants and loans from the bloc's post-pandemic Recovery and Resilience Facility (Council, Commission). But approval is a plan decision, not a bank transfer. Budapest must satisfy 27 binding reform checkpoints on judicial independence, anti-corruption and procurement by 31 August 2026, or the money expires permanently at year-end. The package is roughly €6.5 billion in grants and €3.5 billion in loans (Executive Digest). Grants are free money. Loans must be repaid.

Hungary knows what expiry looks like. It already lost roughly €2 billion when the EU cancelled funds at previous deadlines because the Orbán government refused to comply (Euronews). The RRF (the EU's main post-pandemic investment fund, worth €577 billion across all members) works on proof of delivery. Governments commit to reforms, prove they followed through, and only then does the Commission release money (EUR-Lex). For Hungary, that mechanism has been the story since December 2022, when the Council approved Budapest's plan but locked every payment behind those checkpoints (Council). Under Orbán, Hungary refused to meet any of them.

What Budapest changed

The political reset came from Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who struck a deal with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and pushed a legislative package through parliament in late June. Lawmakers passed the measures in a two-day extraordinary session, 142 votes to 39, signalling broad parliamentary backing for the reversal. The amendments target three areas: procurement oversight, asset declarations and the public-interest foundations that Orbán used to move an estimated €8.5 billion in state assets beyond government control (Brussels Signal, The Hindu).

The new laws strengthen Hungary's Integrity Authority (its anti-corruption watchdog) and make hiding assets in official declarations a criminal offence. They also require dissolving the foundations and returning their assets to the state. Minister Dávid Vitézy said the barrier under Orbán had been a flat refusal to act on any of these fronts (Budapest Times). Parliament has removed the formal legal barrier. The test has moved from legislation to enforcement.

Auditors say the EU cannot follow the money

EU conditions forced a legal retreat Budapest had resisted for years. But passing laws is not the same as proving clean spending. EU auditors say the gap between the two is wider than the Commission admits.

The European Court of Auditors warned in a 2026 special report that the RRF still cannot reliably track where money ends up after the Commission releases it (ECA). The Commission checks whether Hungary passed the law. It does not verify whether the reformed Integrity Authority actually blocks a corrupt procurement contract next year. The Commission accepted none of the auditors' recommendations (European Parliament).

After 31 August, the Commission loses its strongest tool: the threat of permanent fund cancellation. That pressure pushed Magyar to act, but it also rewards speed over depth. Hungary has paid out only about 9% of its RRF allocation while the EU average sits near 54% (Commission). It must now verify more reform progress in seven weeks than it managed in three and a half years. The plan channels money toward grid upgrades, rail, housing and a wind-energy expansion from about 330 MW to roughly 4 GW of installed capacity by 2030, with energy-law amendments being drafted to cap environmental reviews at 85 days (Newsbase, CMS).

The Council approved Hungary's claim on future money. It has not proved Hungary can spend it cleanly under deadline pressure.