Publication details

Getting Article 7 done: coalition-building against Hungary in the European Parliament

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Authors

HANELT Etienne

Year of publication 2024
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Journal of European Integration
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Law

Citation
web https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07036337.2024.2441977
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2024.2441977
Keywords European Parliament; coalition-building; Article 7; rapporteur; rule of law; Hungary
Attached files
Description Following years of democratic backsliding in Hungary, parts of the European Parliament considered the use of Article 7 TEU. The Parliament’s position had evolved considerably over the years, yet it took eight years until the European Parliament activated Article 7 in September 2018. I trace the report that triggered Article 7 from its inception to the final vote. Using in-depth elite and expert interviews, besides analyses of parliamentary debates, votes and official documents, I argue that a coalition was built on the back of strategic timing, depoliticisation and lobbying. I show that the rapporteur was the key figure in this process. Using this explanatory framework on a thick case study, I show how an unlikely coalition was built through policy entrepreneurship in a hard case. This success holds lessons for democracy defenders in other cases.
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