EU vs. Orbán - Fighting for Democracy within the EU

Hungary's democracy and rule of law might be threatened by Viktor Orbán's actions. What mechanisms could or should the EU implement to ensure that demoracy of its member state is not jeopardized? Find out in the policy paper written by Zuzana Stuchlíková.

European Union is often praised for its normative soft power and transformation capacity. However, despite being very active in promoting democracy in its neighbourhood, the case of Orbán’s Hungary shows that the EU is struggling to ensure the respect for democracy, human rights and rule of law within its borders. The policy paper examines the already existing tools which the EU applied or discussed in the case of Hungary - such as various declarations, infringement procedure or Article 7 TEU. Bilateral sanctions and suspension of the “guilty” political party’s membership in the EP groups are described as alternative options used in the past by the EU members, but outside the EU processes. Proposals for the new rule of law mechanism and ex-ante conditionality are analysed as possible tools for the future. The policy paper comes to conclusion that none of those tools can be fully effective when there’s a clear lack of unity on the EU side and the political will to address the issue is missing.

You can read the full paper of Zuzana Stuchlíková via the PDF button next to this article. 

Zuzana Stuchlíková
Associate Research Fellow

Expertise: Central Europe, EU Institutions