Hungarian public interest trusts and their entities have been excluded by the European Commission from participating in EU educational programmes like Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe, due to reform in Hungary that undermined EU practices of governance and institutional autonomy.
The European University Association (EUA) was apologetic towards students and scholars that will be affected by the decision a total of 21 higher education institutions that combined represent around 85% of Hungary’s university student body. Also, it urged Hungarian authorities to correct its 2019 reforms that led to the exclusion.
The reform promoted by Viktor Orbán’s government interfered with the composition of boards of trustees in public interest trusts, leading to a decline in autonomy in universities, as boards are not made with university’s consultations and their terms are not limited in time. The reform is just the last chapter of long-lasting changes to Hungary’s higher education, resulting in a constant erosion of independence and a damage to universities in the country.
The EUA is hoping to engage with Hungarian authorities in order to help rectify the situation. The organization, who is not affiliate with the EU, is going to release a specific analysis of Hungarian university in its forthcoming Autonomy Scorecard report. Recently, the government opened to a possible change to public trust foundations, but the EUA would like some clear commitment over the precise changes the government is willing to make.
