The 2017 amendment to Hungary’s National Higher Education Law violates EU law, so these provisions should be repealed, the European Union Court of Justice said. This amendment to the legislation in Hungary only affected the Central European University established by György Soros. The judgment affirms that the conditions introduced by Hungary, which allow the activities of foreign higher education institutions to take place in Hungary, are incompatible with EU law.

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The European Commission has launched an infringement procedure against the Hungarian government in this case, which will now be concluded before an EU decision-making forum. The arguments of the European Commission have previously been accepted by the Advocate General of the Court of Justice and this judgment contains these conclusions. The Court of Justice of the European Communities has found an infringement in the following areas:

  • Lex CEU violates a the General Agreement on Trade in Services concluded within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO),
  • infringes the principles of freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services and the EU Directive on services in the internal market,
  • the contested provisions They are also contrary to the EU provisions on the freedom of scientific life, the right to establish an educational institution and the freedom of enterprise.

According to the decision, the disputed parts must be repealed by the Hungarian Parliament. In the meantime, however, due to the precarious situation, the Central European University moved its headquarters to Vienna and started this year with seven hundred students.



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