Hungary initiated an infringement procedure against Austria on Tuesday over changes introduced by the government in Vienna to the country's child benefit system.

The Hungarian government believes the new system, effective from Jan. 1, could negatively affect thousands of Hungarians working in Austria whose children are still in Hungary, according to official sources here.

The changes, approved by the Austrian parliament, mean that the level of child benefit will now be calculated according to living costs in the child's country of origin and not to those in Austria.

"The Hungarian government will turn to the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility Marianne Thyssen in order to start an infringement procedure against Austria because of its new family allowance regulation," Pal Volner, Hungarian state secretary of the Ministry of Justice, said here, quoted by the Hungarian news agency MTI.

The reform has already been criticized by the European Commission, and the Austrian government has admitted that it could be blocked by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

"If the infringement procedure does not take place, Hungary is ready to turn to the ECJ," Volner said.

"The Hungarian government considers the interests of Hungarian workers as a priority, and will do everything necessary to stop those working abroad from suffering violations of their rights," Volner said.

According to Volner, Austria pays only about 56 percent of what it should pay in terms of allowances.

"The Hungarian government has given a diplomatic notice to the Austrian government on Jan. 7, in which we have detailed that with its new regulations, Austria failed to comply with the European directives," Volner underlined. "Since no action followed our move, we had to turn to the commissioner," Volner explained.

The changes would affect around 150,000 children living outside Austria -- many in Hungary and neighboring Romania -- who have at least one parent working and paying social insurance contributions in Austria.

The Austrian government says that the current levels of child benefit -- which can be up to 223 euros (255 U.S. dollars) per child per month -- are "disproportionate" for children in neighboring countries where the cost of living is much lower.

The current level for a three-year-old child in Hungary will fall from 172 euros a month to 97 euros.

The reform was one of the key election promises of the Austrian right-wing coalition, which came to power in 2017. It is projected to save more than 100 million euros for the state budget each year. (1 euro = 1,14 U.S. dollar).