Using European Union funds involves a complex process; Member States must adhere to wide-ranging EU and domestic legislation, non-compliance can lead to irregularities. Besides accordance with the letter of the law, also the general EU budgetary principles, in particular sound financial management, must be given full consideration. The paper presents Hungary’s evolving approach to handling irregularities and her experience in creating the corresponding legal and institutional framework. The research also assesses how the perspective of the European Commission, in particular of its auditors, has contributed to legal uncertainties.In the draft legislation for the 2021 – 2027 budgetary period, the European Commission proposes a new requirement, namely the rule of law conditionality.3 Its clarity and objectivity, however, are still being widely discussed. Additionally, cohesion policy conditionalities have always contained an obligation for the proper functioning of the institutions – including the courts. Nonetheless, the European Commission has not previously examined the performance of the courts in relation to proceeding irregularity and recovery disputes. The presented Hungarian case study not only explains the particular challenges that call for revisiting the appeal system in Hungary; it warns of the general difficulties Member States may face when embedding the irregularity and recovery management functions into their national legislation, whereas the paper also gives notice to the long-awaited analysis of the root problems invoking irregularities.

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Purpose The economic situation in Europe is improving, nevertheless in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are still lacking in finances. In this situation, public funding can play an important role. Besides grants, the use of financial instruments (FIs) has become increasingly popular lately in CEE as well. This paper aims to examine the micro-level effects of the different financial tools to understand which type of finance could be most recommended for policymakers in relation to improving access to finance for SMEs, and thus achieving long-term, sustainable economic growth. Design/methodology/approach The database used is a panel with firm-years as the units of analysis, the variables contain firm-level characteristics, yearly aggregated information on European Union (EU) subsidies and yearly aggregated information on credits received by the firms. The analyses are done using propensity score matching. The ultimate goal is to show whether the EU funds – grants and FIs – have contributed to the development of the Hungarian post-communist economy at micro level or not. Findings The result shows that the use of subsidies has a positive impact on employment, sales and in certain settings on productivity. It is very important to notice, that grants seem to be used effectively. However, the results also show that the provision of the FI holds more direct relevance to advanced productivity. The conclusion is that FIs have more positive impact on the Hungarian economy. Originality/value At the time of the programming for the EU 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework, the paper presents original research in the field of access to finance showing evidence and evaluating the effect of using grants versus FIs, emphasiing differences between the two development tools. It is providing an invaluable insight to the policymaker for planning policy tools and use of funds in a most effective and efficient way.

To enhance the effectiveness of and return on public investments, using financial instruments in addition to grants has lately become an increasingly preferred policy instrument choice in Central and Eastern Europe. The paper examines the impact different financial tools bring about at a micro-level. This enables recommendations for policy-makers to be produced on the type of assistance that could be of best use to improve access to finance for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises, and thus achieve long-term, sustainable economic growth. The analysis is based on counterfactual evaluation and difference-indifferences. The findings indicate that the use of European Union funds (both grants and financial instruments) has a beneficial influence on employment and sales. However, the results also illustrate that in order to achieve the goal of higher impact and certain productivity effects, subsidies should be allocated to the initially less productive small firms in the less developed regions. Another important outcome is that, to some extent, financing through financial instruments has more direct relevance to advanced productivity, and due to their revolving nature, they generate more positive impact on the Hungarian economy than do grants.

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