This open access book deals with the backsliding of the rule of law in Poland and Hungary as one of the main problems of the EU. What began as a national phenomenon has become a general threat for the EU because the respect for the rule of law is a prerequisite for all other values of the EU enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union. Media coverage and scholarly publications on these developments mainly focus on backsliding governments and judicial decisions concerning the issue. This book aims to inform the debate by adding another perspective and providing a broader view. Drawing on a comprehensive collection of parliamentary debates, we explore how MPs in Poland, Hungary, but also the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania referred to the rule of law from 1990 to 2021 and how their narratives differed across parties, countries and time.

Dr. Astrid Lorenz is a professor of German and European Politics and dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Philosophy at Leipzig University, Germany.

Dr. Lisa H. Anders is Lecturer in German & European Politics / DAAD Fachlektorin at Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy of King’s College London, UK.

PD Dr. Dietmar Müller is a research associate at the Institute of Political Science of Leipzig University, Germany.

Jan Němec, PhD is a research associate at the Institute of Political Science of Leipzig University, Germany.