It went down to the wire, but Budapest and Brussels struck a deal in December that paves the way for the EU to greenlight billions of euros in funding. In return, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban's government agreed to more sustained efforts and reforms to fight corruption, as well as giving up its threat to veto a European aid package to Ukraine. This came after months of disagreements over a host of issues – migrants, the rights of minorities, media freedoms, the justice system and most recently, over Russia and Ukraine.

In this special programme, the Europe Now team travels to Hungary to take a closer look at the country's anti-corruption efforts. Luke Brown takes us to Felcsut, the rural birthplace of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the beneficiary of multiple EU-funded projects. Armen Georgian conducts interviews with political players such as Tibor Navracsics, the Hungarian minister of regional development and Kata Tütto, deputy mayor of Budapest.

Hungary isn't the only country that has ruffled feathers in Brussels in recent years over the issue of the rule of law, but Poland has avoided cuts to EU funding. Our Brussels correspondent Alix Le Bourdon reports on how European magistrates are trying to ensure there is no backsliding from Warsaw.

This show is part of FRANCE 24's series of Europe Now programmes focused on "levelling up" – the EU's efforts aimed at making life more equal across Europe's many and diverse regions. We examine both national efforts to level up, and the role that EU funding plays in those attempts. EU structural and cohesion funds have become even more important in light of the war in Ukraine and the ensuing energy crisis, which threatens to increase unequal living standards around Europe. This makes the EU's response all the more urgent.

Show presented by Armen Georgian, produced by Johan Bodin, filmed on location by Johan Bodin and Stéphane Bodenne, with Luke Brown.

^{Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the DG Regional and Urban Policy. Neither the European Union nor the DG Regional and Urban Policy can be held responsible for them.}