Analysis by Attila Kovács and Levente Kocsis
The recent withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union bestows unmatched actuality to an overview of Hungary’s actions in the Council of the European Union (hereinafter: Council). The attitudes of these two Member States to legislative acts of the Union and the overlay thereof allow us to conduct inference on the changing position of Hungary.
Moreover, the systematic overview of the final voting sessions before enacting legislative proposals reveals the Hungarian preferences with regards to the Union legislature. Our results indicate the preferences of Hungary overlap that of the United Kingdom to a relatively small degree. However, if cases of rejection are taken, we conclude that Britain and Poland were Hungary’s most frequent partners. Thus, the departure of the United Kingdom might impair Hungary’s blocking potential during qualified majority votes, though this effect is partly counterbalanced by the increasing weight of Poland.