€4.2bn for Hungary, no EU prosecutors yet

On 23 September the European Commission proposed lifting restrictions on about €4.2 billion of EU money for Hungary. It named Hungary's entry into the EU's anti-fraud prosecutor among the reforms justifying the move (Commission, EUobserver). That prosecutor has no one working in Hungary yet. Its chief, Laura Codruța Kövesi, told RTL on 29 September that she expects a Budapest office by next summer, staffed by ten prosecutors (HVG).

Joined on paper, empty in practice

The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) is the EU's own prosecution service for fraud and corruption involving EU money. A Commission decision in July confirmed Hungary as a member, and the Justice Ministry says membership took effect on 2 August (Commission Decision (EU) 2026/1701, Justice Ministry).

Membership still needs people on the ground. The EPPO works through prosecutors based in each country, who open cases and bring them before national courts. Getting them to Budapest takes three steps. Hungary's parliament passes the rules, the government supplies a ranked list of candidates, and the EPPO appoints from that list (Regulation (EU) 2017/1939).

The first step has not happened. The government plans to put a package amending three laws before parliament during 2026 (Index). A second package would follow in 2027 to rewrite rules on criminal procedure, data protection and cooperation (Justice Ministry). Nothing in the record shows that parliament has passed either one.

Kövesi's summer date is therefore her expectation, not a timetable written into law. The number of prosecutors is also still open. EU rules require at least two per country and leave the final figure to the government and the chief prosecutor, so her ten is a proposal (Regulation (EU) 2017/1939). Once running, the office could look back at offences committed since June 2021. That covers years when Viktor Orbán's government kept Hungary out (444.hu).

Poland shows how far apart joining and opening can sit. It became a member on 1 June 2024, but its office started working in practice only on 28 January 2025 (Rzeczpospolita). Hungary's legislative path differs, so that gap offers an illustration, not a forecast.

What governments are being asked to credit

The Commission's proposal would not transfer €4.2 billion to Budapest on the day it passes (Commission). The money is cohesion funding, the part of the EU budget that pays for roads, water systems and other projects in poorer regions. Lifting the restrictions would let Hungary commit it to projects again. Payments then arrive as those projects spend.

The proposal comes after the Commission closed its rule-of-law procedure, the tool it uses to freeze EU money when a government cannot be trusted to handle it. That closure left other conditions on Hungary's funds in place (To Brief). EPPO membership is one reason among several, not the whole case.

Member governments now decide in the Council by qualified majority. Under that system larger countries carry more weight and no single government can veto (EUobserver).

The office matters beyond this one vote. Once staffed, prosecutors in Budapest could run joint investigations with colleagues in other member countries when companies or payments cross borders (Regulation (EU) 2017/1939). That gives every government paying into the EU budget a stake in whether the posts are filled. The office would still have limits. The EPPO picks which cases to open, Hungarian courts try them, and crimes involving only Hungarian public money stay outside its reach.

The record supports a plain verdict. EU governments are being asked to count Hungary's EPPO membership as a completed reform before it has put a single prosecutor in the country. On Kövesi's own estimate, the Budapest office will open only by next summer (HVG). The Council has not yet voted, and governments can still ask for proof of progress before releasing the money. The first proof would be Hungary's parliament passing the selection laws the government has promised for this year (Index).