Since the political transition of Hungary in the late 1980s, the law of the European
Union has been the primary external influence on the modernization of domestic legislation.
This chapter aims to illustrate that Hungary, as a passive and receptive actor, implemented
all components of eu law which were prerequisites for eu membership. This has resulted
in an intense convergence in rules and values of the domestic and eu legal order until
its accession to the eu in 2004. After accession, however, Hungary started to move
from a constructive to confrontational Member State, which has led to a substantial
divergence between the laws of Hungary and eu law. This chapter analyzes these processes
and attempts to identify the possible consequences of this alteration in the Hungarian
stance to the adoption of rules, values, and regulatory models originating from eu
law. It will be demonstrated with case studies ranging from recent Hungarian economic
legislation to the constitutional reform, illustrating how this new role of Hungary
negatively affects the adaptability of Hungarian legal order and leads to canceling
the convergence to the European law.