Hungary set to miss September return to Erasmus+ student scheme
Hungary will likely miss its target to rejoin the EU's Erasmus+ exchange programme in September because Budapest plans to submit required rule-of-law reforms too late for the bloc to process them in time.
Hungary is poised to miss the September deadline to rejoin the EU’s Erasmus+ exchange programme despite high-profile political assurances, because Budapest will not submit required rule-of-law reforms until late August.
The European Commission needs these measures, known as "super milestones", to satisfy the EU's Conditionality Mechanism and lift a funding suspension on 21 Hungarian universities. A Commission official warned that without an early summer submission, a timely return is not feasible. The file currently sits with the Commission's Directorate-General for Budget, which will almost certainly be unable to overturn the ban before September.
The delay undercuts a May promise by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that students would return "as early as the next academic year". That pledge accompanied a broader political deal to unblock €16.4 billion in previously frozen EU funds for Hungary following Prime Minister Péter Magyar's election victory in April.
Magyar's government has already renationalised the public interest trusts running the universities, meeting the EU's transparency demands that triggered the 2022 exclusions. However, diplomatic sources said Budapest is holding back the formal submission to bundle it with a larger package of 27 super milestones due at the end of August.
During his first visit to Brussels after his election, Magyar acknowledged the difficulties. "Obviously not in full, as the application deadlines have already passed, but we will find a solution so that Hungarian students can study at the best universities in Europe through additional applications," he said.
For universities, this administrative bottleneck has tangible consequences. Dr Loretta Huszák, a lecturer at Corvinus University, said securing EU financing for student exchanges for the 2026-27 academic year is now practically impossible. She noted that organising a return in the autumn would only yield funding for the 2027-28 academic year at the earliest.
In the interim, Hungary is financing student mobility through its own Pannónia Scholarship Programme. The Ministry of Education and Children stated that national funds are currently available to the affected higher education institutions to cover international mobility.
The ministry confirmed that the universities have already submitted their Erasmus+ mobility applications for 2026. While conditional grant amounts are granted, the ministry noted that technical preparations can only go so far. The actual signing of grant agreements and the provision of funds can only take place after the Council of the European Union lifts its restriction.
