The crisis, economic patriotism in central Europe and EU law

This contribution examines rising economic patriotism in Central and Eastern Europe, mainly in Hungary and Poland, after the global financial and economic crisis. A closer look at patriotism in these EU Member States seems warranted given the global shift towards more inward-looking national policies and the challenging of neo-liberal ideas of free trade and competition, where these ideas were taken on board by local elites rather keenly. Economic policy in the CEE countries is organised according to a rather particular combination of objectives and priorities. Patriotism, as shown by the case of Poland and Hungary particularly well, has been part of a policy mix derived from ideological considerations and, partly, from the interests of a new business elite since the collapse of communism. There are, however, quite apparent country-specific differences; Orenstein observed that ‘whereas neo-liberal ideas have shown resilience in some Central and Eastern European countries, a trend towards greater statism is clearly visible in others’ (Orenstein, Resilient liberalism in Europe’s political economy. Cambridge University Press, 2013, p. 375). In the case of Hungary, certainly after 2010, patriotic trends in economic policy have been especially prevalent as supported by assessments that Hungarian economic policy ‘represents the greatest departure from the neo-liberal development model yet attempted in Central and Eastern Europe’ (Orenstein, Resilient liberalism in Europe’s political economy. Cambridge University Press, 2013, p. 395). It seems, as discussed in this contribution, that Poland may be rather keen to follow suit.