Democratic Backsliding in the European Union

Abstract

Democratic backsliding in European Union (EU) member states is not only a policy challenge for the EU, but also a potential existential crisis. If the EU does too little to deal with member state regimes that go back on their commitments to democracy and the rule of law, this risks undermining the EU from within. On the other hand, if the EU takes drastic action, this might split the EU. This article explores the nature and dynamics of democratic backsliding in EU member states, and analyses the EU’s capacity, policy tools and political will to address the challenge. Empirically it draws on the cases that have promoted serious criticism from the Commission and the European Parliament: Hungary, Poland, and to a lesser extent, Romania. After reviewing the literature and defining backsliding as a gradual, deliberate, but open-ended process of de-democratization, the article analyzes the dynamics of backsliding and the EU’s difficulties in dealing with this challenge to liberal democracy and the rule of law. The Hungarian and Polish populist right’s “illiberal” projects involve centralization of power in the hands of the executive and the party, and limiting the independence of the judiciary, the media and civil society. This has brought both governments into direct confrontation with the European Commission. However, the EU’s track record in managing backsliding crises is at best mixed. This comes down to a combination of limited tools and lack of political will. Ordinary infringement procedures offer a limited toolbox, and the Commission has proven reluctant to use even these tools fully. At the same time, party groups in the European Parliament and many member state governments have been reluctant to criticize one of their own, let alone go down the path of suspending aspect of a states’ EU membership. Hence the EU’s dilemma: it is caught between undermining its own values and cohesion through inaction on one hand, and relegating one or more member states it to a second tier—or even pushing them out altogether—on the other.

Beyond Conditionality: Policy Reversals in Southern Europe in the Aftermath of the Eurozone Crisis

“…On the other hand, enlargement scholars observe that reversals were rare in the first decade after accession (Levitz & Pop-Eleches 2010;Epstein & Sedelmeier 2009;Sedelmeier 2012), with the exception of highly contested commitments (Sasse 2008;Grabbe 2014). In a recent paper, Sitter et al (2016) aim to systematically map reversals of democratisation in the EU in the areas of the rule of law, corruption and equality. They show that Hungary, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria represent the most serious cases of democratic backsliding.…”

Why does the European Right accommodate backsliding states? An analysis of 24 European People’s Party votes (2011–2019)

“…Many detailed institutional reports and academic accounts have convincingly demonstrated that serious breaches of EU fundamental values have occurred in Hungary and Poland under the stewardship of Fidesz and PiS, respectively (Norwegian Helsinki Committee, 2013; Dawson and Hanley, 2016; Kelemen, 2016; Bogaards, 2018; Przybylski, 2018; Freedom House, 2019; Sitter and Bakke, 2019). Yet the EU has, so far, been ineffective in addressing the problem (Kochenov et al ., 2016).…”

“…Over the last decade, the EU’s fundamental values concerning respect for democracy, pluralism, and the rule of law have been under attack in several Member States of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) (Sitter and Bakke, 2019). The EU has been noted for its ineffectiveness in addressing this problem by failing to take measures that would stem backsliding on fundamental values (Kochenov et al ., 2016) and thereby protect its own ‘normative integrity’ (Lacey, 2017).…”

Understanding the illiberal turn: democratic backsliding in the Czech Republic

“…What is democratic backsliding? Although often used broadly to express frustration with the quality of government, scholars do use the term more precisely to refer to changes in formal or informal institutions that move the polity in the direction of a hybrid or authoritarian regime (Erdmann 2011;Dresden and Howard 2016;Sitter et al 2016). Democratic backsliding means that existing power-holders drive a gradual process of democratic regression, and not that outsiders cause a sudden democratic breakdown, as in a classic coup d'état.…”