Hungary’s twenty years in the European Union can be divided into two distinct periods. The first six to seven years, the learning phase of membership, were characterised by compliance with EU requirements, the alignment of Hungarian public policy institutions with the EU and continuous integration into European markets.
During this period, the socialist-liberal government adopted a pro-European stance and did not question the EU’s competence in public policy. The global financial crisis of 2008 hit Hungary particularly hard, with a soaring public deficit and a drying up of foreign credit. Without EU membership and the stand-by agreement negotiated with the EU and the IMF, the crisis would have been deeper and the economic recovery would have taken longer.
Although the EU acted as a safety belt for Hungary during the global financial crisis, this marked a turning point in Hungary’s relations with the EU. In 2010, Viktor Orbán and his right-wing Fidesz party won a landslide victory in national elections. The Orbán government developed Eurosceptic rhetoric, questioned the EU’s mandate in several policy areas and began to openly criticise the European Union.
This increasingly hostile political rhetoric masks a surprising continuity in public policy. Data on infringement procedures show that Hungary generally fulfils its membership obligations and is not out of line with other member states in this respect.
However, infringement cases ruled by the Court of Justice of the European Union reveal there are areas where Hungarian legislation is not in line with EU obligations. These include the implementation of EU asylum policy and Hungarian tax and environmental legislation. Thus, a dichotomy between increasingly Eurosceptic political rhetoric and general compliance with European law has characterised Hungary’s EU membership over the past decade.
This article is part of a series organised by Eli Gateva on Rethinking Europe’s East-West Divide – 20 Years since the Big Bang Enlargement.
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