BRUSSELS — Péter Magyar trumpeted his meeting with Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels as a breakthrough — but Hungary is still a long way from receiving the billions of euros in EU funds that Budapest wants.

“Based on today’s meeting, €16.4 billion euros have been unlocked,” the Hungarian prime minister told reporters after Friday’s meeting, calling the outcome better than he had expected.

Yet Commission officials offered a more cautious description, describing Friday’s deal as a political agreement on a broad direction rather than a decision to release the cash, which was blocked over breaches of EU law during former leader Viktor Orbán’s years in power.

“We haven’t agreed to disburse the funds,” a senior Commission official said. “We’ve agreed on a list of commitments which, if completed by Aug. 31, will trigger the payment of those funds.”

In recent days, negotiators have worked through specific reforms and investments and, crucially, assessed whether they could realistically be completed before the EU’s Aug. 31 deadline to formally apply for the money, a second Commission official said. There is already “considerable detail” behind the deal, they added. The officials were granted anonymity in line with their briefing rules.

“There is a political understanding on the landing zone,” the first senior Commission official said. However, the agreement still needs to be translated into a formal revision of Hungary’s plans to qualify for EU post-pandemic recovery funds, setting out in detail the reforms, investments and implementation timelines required for any future payment, the official stressed.

Commission President von der Leyen said “a great deal of work has already been achieved in a very short time,” adding “this gives confidence for the next steps to come.”

Magyar came to Brussels hoping for a win — but ahead of the meeting, EU officials cautioned that the cash would only flow once Hungary has completed complex reforms.

A long road to €16.4 billion

Hungary is expected to formally submit its revised recovery plan — the next substantial step toward actually getting the cash — next week, according to the first senior Commission official. The proposal would then need to be approved by the Commission and endorsed by EU countries, with Brussels aiming for adoption in July.

If all conditions are met, the agreement could unlock up to €10 billion under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), alongside additional cohesion and academic-freedom-related funding, bringing the total potentially available amount to €16.4 billion.

The €16.4 billion package consists of €10 billion under the RRF — €6.5 billion in grants and €3.5 billion in loans — as well as €2.2 billion linked to academic freedom requirements and €4.2 billion in cohesion funding, cash meant to boost the economies of poorer regions.

The agreement also does not restore all of the funding Hungary has lost during years of disputes with Brussels.

According to senior Commission officials, around €2 billion in cohesion funding has already been permanently lost after spending deadlines expired. “That funding cannot be recovered,” one of the officials quoted above said, stressing that Friday’s agreement has no impact on those funds.

In addition, more than €530 million remains frozen over migration, asylum and LGBTQ-related concerns, meaning that even if Hungary ultimately secures the full €16.4 billion package, some EU funding remains out of reach.