(MTA Bolyai Research Grant, 2018-2021)

This research project investigates the post-enlargement Europeanization of Hungarian public policy. Although Hungary has been member of the European Union for almost 15 years, close to nothing is known about to what extent the Hungarian governments have met the EU-level expectations and requirements. This is the first empirical research on the impact of EU membership on public policy in Hungary, and in this respect will supply novel insights into an often discussed but empirically rarely addressed issue. Our goal is to identify the degree to which Hungarian laws in different policy fields show European origin. We also seek to explore the similarities and differences in the transposition record of Hungarian governments since EU accession. By including the infringement procedures in this research, we also aim to identify the policy fields in which the relationship between the EU and the Hungarian governments have been the most conflictual since 2004. Three new databases that cover three aspects of the domestic policy impact of the EU membership (law-making in the Hungarian Parliament, implementation of country-specific recommendations, infringement procedures) will provide a sound basis for the empirical assessment of what effect the EU has had on public policy in Hungary. As a result, this project will contribute to a more evidence-based public discourse about Hungary’s EU membership.

Principal investigator: András Bíró-Nagy 

Publications: Brüsszel hatása. A magyar törvények és az Európai Unió (The impact of Brussels. Hungarian laws and the European Union), Hungarian Political Science Review, 27(3): 35-57.