Olvasási idő: 1 perc

On 22 February, the Centre for European Studies' event on the conditionality of EU funds tackled a very complex, and relevant issue.

The event participants sought answers to the following questions:

 

 

  • What does the term "conditionality" mean and how does this terminology affect the EU budget?
  • How far do/can EU competences extend?
  • What is the current situation in Hungary?
  • Does the EU use double standards on conditionality issues?
  • What can be expected in the future regarding this issue?

Rodrigo Ballester tried to give concrete examples to show the audience what conditionality means and stressed that the EU should be pragmatic and that its budget should not be influenced by political issues. To a young audience of mainly university students, he went into detail on the Erasmus and Horizon2020 programmes, pointing out that these programmes are very popular everywhere, not just in Europe, and have never been used as weapons by the EU.