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Backsliding Populist Governments in the Council: The Case of the Hungarian Fidesz

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  • Ramona Coman

    (Département de Science Politique, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium / Centre d’Étude de la Vie Politique (Cevipol), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium / Institut d’Études Européennes (IEE), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)

Abstract

Populist governments aim to fundamentally challenge the EU, raising the question of when and how backsliding populist governments disrupt decision-making in the Council of the EU (hereafter Council). Due to their anti-elite and strong anti-EU stance, along with their opposition to core values of liberal democracy, I argue that these governments are more inclined to resort to unpolitics , understood as “unsettlement.” Analysing the behaviour of the Hungarian Fidesz government in the Council, the article demonstrates that populist governments resort to unpolitics but use an à la carte approach. Populist backsliding governments selectively oppose the Council’s formal and informal decision-making rules. Looking at the voting behaviour in the Council since 2009, the article shows that the Fidesz government preserves the norm of consensus. However, over time, it has become the government that has most often broken with this norm. Conversely, when it comes to “backsliding-inhibiting competences,” the Fidesz government challenges both formal and informal rules through a wide range of strategies, i.e., systematically contesting the legality of procedures and decisions, embracing a confrontational approach and diplomacy, self-victimisation, bending the truth, and accusatory rhetoric. To illustrate them, the article focuses on decisions related to the dismantlement of the rule of law in the country, such as Article 7 TEU, the application of Regulation 2020/2092, and the disbursement of Cohesion funds.

Suggested Citation

  • Ramona Coman, 2024. "Backsliding Populist Governments in the Council: The Case of the Hungarian Fidesz," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 12.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v12:y:2024:a:8161
    DOI: 10.17645/pag.8161
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Maurits J. Meijers & Harmen van der Veer, 2019. "MEP Responses to Democratic Backsliding in Hungary and Poland. An Analysis of Agenda‐Setting and Voting Behaviour," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 838-856, July.
    2. Gerda Falkner & Georg Plattner, 2020. "EU Policies and Populist Radical Right Parties' Programmatic Claims: Foreign Policy, Anti‐discrimination and the Single Market," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 723-739, May.
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    5. Tanja A. Börzel & Philipp Broniecki & Miriam Hartlapp & Lukas Obholzer, 2023. "Contesting Europe: Eurosceptic Dissent and Integration Polarization in the European Parliament," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 1100-1118, July.
    6. Ana E. Juncos & Karolina Pomorska, 2024. "Populists in the Shadow of Unanimity: Contestation of EU Foreign and Security Policy," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 12.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ariadna Ripoll Servent & Natascha Zaun, 2024. "Under Which Conditions Do Populist Governments Use Unpolitics in EU Decision-Making," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 12.

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