DEBATE

Hungary: Taking action

The Hungarian Parliament has enacted a package of constitutional amendments that virtually neutralizes the Constitutional Court as an opponent of Viktor Orbáns two-third-majority government. There was no lack of protest notes from both Strasbourg and Brussels, but apparently to no avail. Neither the EU nor the Council of Europe seems to be able, institutionally, to find an adequate response to a systematic undermining of constitutionalism within member states such as Hungary or Romania. A conspicuous deterioration in constitutionalism isn’t just the problem of the respective member state; it affects the entire EU and all its member states. But what can they do?