The European Union countries They achieved a Monday agreement that ensures the macro-financial assistance of 18,000 million euros to Ukraine for next year and has the unanimous support of the 27, including Hungarywhich prevented the agreement a week ago to try to put pressure on its partners and prevent them from freezing billions in european funds. However, the Twenty-seven also agreed to freeze 6.3 billion euros in Cohesion funds for Hungary due to the lack of progress in the fight against corruption and the reinforcement of the rule of law that is required of the Government of Viktor Orbán, diplomatic sources informed Europa Press. In this way, the Member States revised downwards the initial proposal from Brussels to freeze 65% of the affected programs, that is, 7,500 million, and set the suspension at 55% to take into account the reforms which Hungary began to develop this autumn. In its analysis, the European bloc considers it necessary to suspend these funds to protect the Community Budget from failures in the rule of law in this country, especially with regard to public procurement, the effectiveness of procedural action and the fight against corruption. The freezing of funds, against which only Hungary voted against, responds to the Brussels conclusions after evaluating the impact of the reforms adopted up to November by the Hungarian authorities and verifying that, despite the fact that the country has processed far-reaching measures, these were not “fully satisfactory” nor did they resolve the threats identified. In exchange for partially endorsing the Hungarian Recovery Plan, Budapest lifted its veto to the minimum rate of 15%.
The agreement was reached at a meeting in Brussels at the level of ambassadors that still needs the formal approval of the capitals through a written procedure that will conclude this Wednesday, in time to prevent Hungary’s pulse with its partners in the EU from slipping into the meeting of heads of state and government Europeans this Wednesday and Thursday.
The agreement also meant giving the green light to Hungary’s recovery plan, but conditions any disbursement of the 5,800 million for reforms and investments to the Hungarian Government to comply with specific measures in the field of anti-corruption and Rule of law, conditions directly linked to the freezing of regional funds. Specifically, to the reforms initially negotiated between Budapest and Brussels to achieve the recovery and investment objectives, for example in energy and decarbonization of its industry, another 27 “super milestones” linked to institutional reforms to strengthen the State of law and that expressly include the reforms that the Community Executive demands from Hungary within the framework of the conditionality mechanism by which the regional funds are frozen.
The fourth element of the agreement that the Twenty-seven wanted to negotiate as a package to deal with the blockade of Budapest has been the minimum rate of 15% of the Corporation tax of the large multinationals, the so-called Second Pillar that is part of the OECD reform for a global minimum rate. It is about ensuring that the benefits of large multinational and national groups or companies with a joint annual turnover of at least 750 million are taxed at a minimum rate of 15%. Also on this point an agreement was reached unanimously, although the sources consulted by Europa Press warned that the pact is based on the “assumption” that Poland Also raise your reserves at this point.
