The future of Europe and Eurosceptic parties in Poland and Hungary

Abstract

The current political climate in Poland and Hungary shows that these countries are moving further apart from the EU. This research will evaluate this political climate and Euroscepticism in Poland and Hungary. It will assess the influence that these parties have in the other Member States and within the EU institutions. The rationale behind it is to understand the way EU may evolve due to the rise of these Eurosceptic parties. In recent years, both Poland and Hungary have been accused of going against democracy, where they both promote illiberal democracy as another form of democracy that should be accepted by the EU and the rule of law. Euroscepticism and democratic backsliding are theories that can explain a Member State’s attitude towards the EU. This dissertation will investigate into how these theories, along with other theories, are applied to the Polish and Hungarian context. A deductive approach is used to see how the behaviour of these countries can affect the EU, and a comparative method is used to see how the same theories can be compared and contrasted between Poland and Hungary. Seeing that these ruling nationalist-populist countries have a majority in their respective governments in Poland and Hungary, it shows that Euroscepticism is not just a trend, but it is gaining momentum. The analysis shows that the actions of the Law and Justice party and the Fidesz party have dealt a blow to the assumption that the EU was heading into one clear direction. These parties will fight for having less Europe, where the EU Member States would agree to cooperate on specific areas, such as the single market, with some competences going back to the Member States. Future research should focus on a further drift between mainstream Europe and eastern/central Member States.