The Law of the European Union in Hungary: Institutions, Processes and the Law

This book examines the impact of European Union law on the state and the law in Hungary. It focuses on the legal and institutional changes and the institutional adaptation processes induced by EU law and it gives an accurate and accessible account of this largely transparent process of legal and institutional transformation. It looks at the institutional responses in government to the direct adaptational pressures following from various areas of EU law and governance, in particular, the mechanisms and practices adopted for the harmonization of national law with EU law, including the external acquis, the application and enforcement of EU law in Hungary, and the protection by the Hungarian government of rights and Hungarian interests before EU courts. It also covers substantive legal changes in domestic law based on provisions of EU primary and secondary law and the general principles of the EU legal order. It examines the primary avenues of legal adaptation for the Member States under the EU framework including the modifications in domestic constitutional law required by EU membership, the interpretation and application of EU law by domestic courts and the application of EU (competition and state aid) law by Hungarian authorities.