Too Little, Too Late - Four Reasons Why EU Sanctions against Hungary Do Not Work

Too Little, Too Late - Four Reasons Why EU Sanctions against Hungary Do Not Work Szente, Zoltán Author aut (orcid)0009-0001-6844-0091 Text xx# 2024 Verfassungsblog 2024-01-26 eng All signs indicate that the various procedures and instruments invented and used by the European Commission to improve the situation of the rule of law in Hungary have so far not been successful. In fact, apart from a few sham measures, democracy and rule of law, in their simplest definitions (the possibility to overthrow the incumbent government through free and fair elections, and the limitation of political power by law) are in a worse situation in Hungary today than when the various mechanisms for protecting the rule of law were launched or payments were suspended. Why have the tools used by the European Union so far proven ineffective? Finding the causes of a complex phenomenon is never easy, but the experience of recent years makes it possible to identify some that can explain this failure. CC BY-SA 4.0 Szente, Zoltán Democratic Backsliding EU rule of law framework European University Institute (Firenze). European Policy Unit Hungary Rule of Law Mechanism conditionality mechanism European University Institute (Firenze). European Policy Unit 342 https://verfassungsblog.de/too-little-too-late-3/ Verfassungsblog 2366-7044 Max Steinbeis Verfassungsblog gGmbH 10.59704/5be61141f4c771f2 240126 10.59704/5be61141f4c771f2 Converted from MARCXML to MODS version 3.7 using MARC21slim2MODS3-7.xsl (Revision 1.140 20200717)