In the 2019 edition of the Freedom in the World Index, Hungary was the first ever to drop below the threshold democratic indicators required for being categorized ‘Free’ to be categorised a ‘Partly Free’ country. Other EU countries (e.g. Poland) are following suit, despite the EU professing a fundamental commitment to democracy and the rule of law. As a political theorist specialised in democratic legitimacy and European politics, this leads Theuns to ask: ‘What should the EU do to protect democracy given increasing democratic backsliding in some member states?’

Theuns’ Veni project, ‘Protecting democracy in Europe’, will proceed in three steps. First, he will analyse the existing rule of law framework in EU law for normative and expressive coherence. Here he will draw on methodological tools he developed with Leiden colleague Andrei Poama, published in the American Political Science Review. Second, he will assess past successes and failures of EU democracy protection. The final step of research is constructive, looking at how policies should be reformed to better protect democracy in Europe.

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