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On 23 September 2026, the European Commission proposed that the Council of the EU lift the 2022 conditionality-mechanism restrictions on approximately EUR 4.2bln in cohesion policy funding for Hungary and restore access to Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe for universities run by public-interest trusts.
The Commission's proposal followed reforms in public procurement, anti-corruption safeguards, conflict-of-interest prevention, and the operation of law enforcement and prosecutorial bodies, which Hungary notified to Brussels on 9 September 2026. The originally frozen EUR 6.3bln covered three cohesion programmes (environment and energy efficiency, transport infrastructure and territorial development) plus a ban on new commitments with certain public-interest trusts. Of that amount, roughly EUR 4.2bln can now be restored.
The proposal is not self-executing: the Council of the EU must still approve it before funds can be released. Separately, roughly EUR 10bln under the Recovery and Resilience Facility remains under consideration, and more than EUR 2bln in cohesion funding remains frozen over concerns relating to asylum, child protection and academic freedom.
This is the Commission's first formal step toward releasing cohesion funds frozen since 2022, unlocking material capital for EU-funded tenders in environment, energy efficiency, transport and territorial development, and restoring Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe access for affected universities. However, the release remains conditional on Council approval, and a meaningful share of the frozen and pending funding under the RRF and the remaining cohesion tranche is still outstanding.
Public procurement contractors and public-sector bodies in transport, energy efficiency and territorial development, as well as universities managed by public-interest trusts and their students and researchers, and financial institutions and project sponsors involved in EU-cofinanced infrastructure and energy projects.
The Council of the EU's decision on the Commission's proposal; progress on the separate EUR 10bln RRF track; and whether the remaining roughly EUR 2bln in cohesion funding, blocked over asylum, child-protection and academic-freedom concerns, is addressed. Entities in public infrastructure, transport and energy should monitor for renewed EU-cofinanced tender activity once the Council acts
Gabor
Kulcsar
Associate
austria vienna